As good as Death
by astala7
Summary: Death messed up his job at Halloween 1981 and now neither Voldemort nor Harry Potter are dead. As if that wasn't bad enough that noisy little brat appears to be able to see him. All of that was quite unexpected. Still it doesn't explain how he somehow found himself stuck to raise the baby. Alright, now that's just awkward.
1. One last job

A new experiment of mine. Harry Potter is being raised by Death. Yes, _the _Death. How will this experience change him? Or will he be the one who changes the world and the Death himself? Let's find out!

XxX

* * *

**1981. The human world.**

„No... NO! I don't want to die!" He tried to run. The light was growing fast but he was sure he could still make it. But then there was pair of bony fingers grabbing him, pulling him back. A hand was holding him at his collar and his feet were dangling helplessly in the air. He turned around – and looked directly into two empty eye sockets laying deep in a white skull. The face of the carcass was partly hidden by a dark hood. Still the view shocked him so much he was unable to move for a moment. Crudely the hand dropped him to the ground. Completely off his mind he tried crawling away from the gruesome creature but the being raised a long wooden pole and gave him a hard blow. Still he had probably been lucky because the other end of the pole wore a sharp looking blade. The blow pushed him forward – and directly into the light. Then he knew no more.

The Death sighed. It had been a long day. He had accompanied the souls of eight vampires, three inferi, a sphinx and an old goblin into the next life. Well, to be precise he had looked at them grimly and threatened to do all kinds of horrible things to them if they didn't move through the damn tunnel into the stupid light. For most of the dead ones that was enough. The Death didn't know who started the rumor about the skeleton with the scythe. But since he had altered his appearance to be that way people recognized him immediately and were struggling far less against him. It was making his job much easier. Plus he liked the scythe.

There were around 200,000 dead persons among the higher species. Thank hell Death didn't have to worry about every single one of them. Most souls were drawn to the light automatically, whenever they wanted to or not. But there were some that had the annoying tendency to avoid the natural way of things. Vampires, for example. Death hated vampires. Technically they were all long overdue but their souls still lingered on earth. Every time one of them kicked the bucket for good Death had to be there to mark off the name. It was similar with some of the more powerful magical races.

Yes, there was indeed a death list. On it there were all those entities that tried to somehow delay their natural death. If one of these names remained on the list for more then five times the normal life span, Death had to take matters into his own hands. In most cases it was still enough to sent his henchmen. But those had grown more and more ineffective over the last couple of decades. Sometimes he really asked himself what they did the entire day. Sitting together playing cards? Somehow he couldn't picture that. Still it had been an eternity since he last saw one of them.

But Death could worry about that later. He had one last job today. It was a human. That alone was strange enough. Normally humans didn't make any problems. This one wasn't exactly old either, he was only close to seventy. No, this guy was on Death's list because he had dabbed too deep into the Black Arts. A pseudo immortal. The one thing worse then vampires.

Death scoffed. Something like immortality did not exist. He would get them all at last!

It was late at night when Death entered the house. Neither doors nor walls nor magical shields could stop him. He was just passing though material. The living couldn't see him anyway.

Disinterested Death watched two humans arguing in the living room. Shortly after one of them dropped dead. For a few seconds his soul lingered behind, trying in vain to continue cursing the other who had already turned around. Death ignored him. He was not the reason he was here tonight.

„What the – stop right there! You won't get my family!", the man screamed, seemingly frustrated that his murderer didn't pay him any mind. Slowly Death turned towards him. As he saw the bony face the man flinched back.

„Y-You are-"

Death didn't answer. He already saw how the light formed behind the man and began to devour him.

„No", the man whispered desperately when he saw Death climbing the stairs. „Not Lily! Not Harry!"

But the light had already embraced him.

Completely unaffected Death entered the second floor and was just in time to see the green light that cut the soul of the redheaded woman from her body. Death didn't pay her any mind either and stepped closer. His attention was focused on the man in the dark robe and the infant In the cradle in front of him. One of them would die tonight – that was what the prophecy said. Aside from pseudo immortals that was the second kind of humans that demanded Death's presence: People whose deaths were somehow determined my a prophecy. Every now and then, Destiny tried to spoil his efforts with these people. This stupid bitch had succeeded in snatching away a soul or two before and so he had begun to supervise such deaths himself.

The man in the robe laughed and pointed his wand at the infant. Death took another step forward and raised his scythe.

„No!", the redhead screamed desperately. „Not Harry! I'll do everything, but don't take Harry!"

Death had seen many people die through the killing curse. He had seen many mothers sacrifice themselves for their children too. And sometimes when they were forced to watch those precious people die anyway as helpless souls they would do something stupid. For example they threw themselves into the line of the curse a second time, or they tried to attack the murderer like the man downstairs had. Of course that was utterly pointless. Souls were incredibly weak, weaker even then ghosts. They weren't able to make physical contact, let alone touch somebody. They couldn't cast magic anymore and couldn't communicate. Not with the living at least. They could make contact with other dead people just fine.

So now Death was standing there, his scythe raised and ready to push the soul of the next victim into the light before it could find a way to avoid that. And what did that damn witch do? Instead of throwing herself in front of the baby or attacking the murderer as any half-decent dead one would? She had the nerve to jam her fist into his spine. She attacked _him, _the goddamn personified Death himself! And Death, currently consisting of nothing but light bones, promptly stumbled forward – directly into the line of the killing curse.

Now the interested reader might require a short explanation about how exactly the killing curse worked. It forcefully ripped the soul of the victim from its body. It was not unlike what Death's henchmen did. However the method of the humans was far more primitive and coupled with a magical shock that caused cardiac arrest at the same time. The fact is: Avada Kedavra was powerful soul magic. It didn't have any effect on ghosts or souls. But it would be able to turn lets say a poltergeist who was at least solid enough to throw material at you into a normal ghost. It could even become dangerous to Death's henchmen who possessed a certain amount of half-spiritual material too. When they were hit with this particular curse sometimes it could happen that they began to leak and lost a soul or two. That wasn't overly dramatic since those souls just went into the light. Until now it had only happened once that a dozen wizards ganged up against a henchman and shot him with the Avada all at once. The henchman had exploded and let lose a wave of three thousand souls. Death took care of the troublemakers personally. He had been very annoyed, those creatures were very hard to make! As a punishment he had enslaved all the wizards and turned them into his henchmen themselves.

Whatever. It was only important to know that the Avada Kedavra had a certain effect on half-spiritual creatures and technically speaking Death belonged to this category too.

Of course nobody had ever dared to hit _him _with a killing curse. The very idea was ridiculous. Apart from the fact that only dead ones could see him and those were unable to cast magic – you couldn't kill the Death. But that was the problem right there: He was the essence of death. Everything that had to do with dying or the passing over of souls was bending to his will. When the green beam of light came dashing towards him it banged against a wall of sheer deathness. That was understandably overstraining it and that the little beam of light backed off horror-stricken and made a bolt of it. Metaphorically speaking, that is. Practically the whole thing manifested itself as the following: The killing curse stopped its track midway and shot back towards its caster.

Eyes wide in alarm the man in the robe didn't even remember to move and the green light hit him straight on. A dire scream could be heard before his body burst into flames. Seconds later nothing but a pile of ash was left of him. Meanwhile the energy backlash the powerful curse had emitted when making contact with Death's essential deathness had teared half the house to tatters.

For a moment it was silent. Then Death turned around very slowly and looked down at the soul of the redheaded woman threateningly who had watched the scene unfold open-mouthed. Only when Death gripped his scythe and made a step towards her she woke from her stupor.

„Uh... Sorry?", she squeaked and smiled tentatively.

Death raised his weapon, ready to let out his frustration about the ruined night on her. But before he got a chance to do so the souls saved herself by hopping into the light.

Grimly Death lowered his scythe again. He knew he couldn't follow her.

Scratching his chin in thought he watched the scene in front of him. Something like that had never happened to him before. The boy was supposed to die tonight. He had already been eager to tell Destiny about this. No one can live while the other survived... She had probably planned a great battle for those two. Such an unspectacular death would have ruined her plans thoroughly.

But the curse had missed and the soul of the guy had fled before it could be enveloped by the light. In fact Death had never seen a soul flee that fast. Not in a long time at least. It was almost as if it was drawn by something out there that helped it along. If that stupid bitch hadn't distracted Death maybe he would have been able to track the soul in time. Well, on the other hand the man would've never lost his soul in the first place if it weren't for the redhead. Great, now Death hat to hunt down the soul by himself and collect it manually. As if he didn't have anything better to do.

Death raised a finger and hummed. Where could the soul be...?

He let his gaze wander and finally it met the small boy. Not even he was dead. Just what was wrong with him today?

But then he paused. The boy... The child... It was looking directly at him. Not at the dead body of his mother or the remains of her murderer. It was looking at him_, at Death._ He was even looking around, moving to the left and to the right but those green eyes were following him. The small boy was staring at him open-mouthed. And then – then he stuck out his little stubby arms at him and called out: „Dat!"

Death blinked in surprise (or he would have, if he had any eye lids).

„Who?", he asked dully and pointed towards himself with a bony finger. „Me?"

The little guy clapped his hands. „Dat!", he called again and this time there was no doubt that he meant Death.

Death stared at him dumbfounded. To be perfectly honest he was a little bit overextended with the situation. Never before had a living person seen him. Not without him showing himself on his own anyway. It would have to be the magical backlash, he decided. Of course the killing curse couldn't take Death's soul (he wasn't even sure if he had one) but maybe it had been able to disperse his deathness a little bit. That might have given the little guy the ability to see him, at least temporally.

Death scratched his head perplexed. Was that even allowed? And if not, what was he supposed to do with the kid? He stepped closer and crouched in front of the child. He might be a chosen one... and he didn't like those on principle because Destiny always disregarded his rules... But this boy was such a tiny dwarf. And technically it hadn't been his fault.

Death's gaze fell on the fresh scar in the middle of the boy's forehead. Oh no. It was getting worse with each second. Apparently a piece of the old man's soul had attached itself to the boy. My, my, what a chaos!

Oh well. If he was perfectly honest with himself it was probably his own fault. He should have taken care of the redhead first. He was tired and overworked but that wasn't an excuse... Now he had messed up this boy's death.

„Sorry." He felt kind of weird. „This wasn't supposed to be so chaotic. Next time you die everything will go according to plan!"

The infant grinned at him. Death glanced towards his dead mother. Was it normal for the dwarf to be this happy?

Again Death scratched his chin in thought. Really, this whole ordeal wasn't the fault of the little one. The guy in the robe was the one to do something with his own soul in order to avoid the light. He'd probably be able to use the boy as an anchor to flee from now on too. Nah. He couldn't let that happen.

„Hrmpf", he mumbled as the infant reached out for him as if he actually expected to be held. „Alright, I have to admit you're kind of cute. I'll give you a present. A compensation, in a matter of speaking." He raised his bony arm and tapped the boy on the forehead, right where his scar was located. The boy flinched back, stared at him with big eyes – and started crying!

„Hey!", Death bristled at him, „C-Calm down! That couldn't have hurt much – ugh, will you be quit already!"

But the boy didn't stop crying.

„Ungrateful brat! I just gave you a You're-discharged-from-prison-card and what are you doing? Next time you're being hit by the killing curse I'll get the foreign soul piece from your scar and you'll keep yours. That's such a great present, people would die for it. Do you hear me? You – oh, now come down already!"

Not knowing what to do in such a situation Death reached for the two little arms to keep them from fidgeting. For a second or two there was silence, then the bleat started again. Death thought that was unfair. He didn't have any ears, why did he have to listen to the screaming?

Clumsily he lifted the child up, holding it at an arms length at first. This time the silence prolonged for a little longer and the boy looked at him with red puffy eyes and quivering lips before taking a breath to prepare a new scream.

„Oh, just – be quit", Death murmured. He held the child close to him and rocked it slowly. And oh wonder, the effect showed. The boy stopped crying. For a moment he looked up into Death's ever grinning face. Then he lowered his little head again and one hand grabbed Death's black robe while the other stuck a thumb in his mouth. Now he almost looked peaceful again. Ha! Never let it be said again that the Death couldn't handle children.

In this moment loud blustering steps could be heard from the staircase. The door was thrown open and there stood a gigantic exemplar of a human. Death was so startled that he almost dropped the child. For a moment Death and giant looked at each other in surprise. Death because that was the second living human that day who saw him and the giant because... Well, because he couldn't see Death, only the little infant floating in the middle of the air.

„Wha-", the guy began but Death had enough of it today.

„Oh, stuff it!", he exclaimed. His day was shot to hell, he had messed up his mission, suddenly everyone could see him and stared at him, he had a soul to hunt down and he didn't even have the redhead to let out his anger at. He had enough and he wanted to go home and not come back until the next epidemic. So that was exactly what he did.

Death turned on the spot, his robe fluttering around him and just like that he was gone.

Only when he appeared in his office in the otherworld with his desk and chair made out of bones, the carpet of the color of fresh blood and the ebony hat rack in the corner where he could put down his scythe – he realized that he was still holding onto the infant.

Behind him the black hole that was the portal to the world of the living closed, the destroyed building fading from view.

Death looked down at the boy who made a cute little sneeze.

„Well, shit", he said. That had not been part of the plan.


	2. A Deal with Destiny

My, my, seven reviews on the first chapter? You guys are awesome.

Yes, Death can actually get into trouble. However it's really, really, _really_ hard for him to do so. There are not much people superior to him. The hierachy of the otherworld will be explained later, though.

XxX

* * *

**Two weeks later. The otherworld.**

Destiny hummed a happy tune while painting her eyes with blue and golden make-up. She was sitting in front of a great mirror and her hair was being braided by a little girl who looked around six years old with golden locks and sparkling blue eyes.

"Well, how do I look, Sweetie?", she asked after applying the final touch.

"You look great, Mistress!", the little girl replied happily.  
Destiny agreed. Her long, ebony black hair was now neatly braided. Still she put on a scarlet bandana with dozens of tiny golden jewels embedded in it. Together with her violet belly-top and the fiery red skirt she looked like a gypsy from the Middle Ages. Ah, that era had been her favorite! The good old times when humans were still out to hunt down dragons and capture unicorns, even if they didn't possess any magical power at all. She still liked to dress up like she had done around that time.

"Alright then, I'll be off", she announced and stood. "Fortune, you'll be coming with me. Get your brother now, come on!"

The little girl turned around, her white dress fluttering in a breeze. She was gone the next moment and only the smell of flowers remained.

Destiny laid a hand on the mirror. Where her palm touched the glass it melted away, revealing a dark passage. Impatiently she waited for the children to return. Soon the little girl was back, holding hands with a boy around her age. However his hair was black, as were his eyes. His skin was sickly white like ash and he had dark circles under his eyed. He was wearing black pants with braces running up over his white button-down shirt.

"Alright, good Fortune, bad Fortune, we're making a trip today", Destiny announced cheerfully.

"Who are we going to visit?", good Fortune asked, bouncing on her heels in excitement.

Her brother just looked ahead gloomily.

"We're going to visit Death. I heard quite the interesting rumor about him." She winked at bad Fortune.

"Oh, oh, oh! What is it, what is it? I want to know!", good Fortune demanded.

"That's a surprise", Destiny decided. "You'll have to see for yourself."

"Aw, that's not fair! Brother, you'll tell me, won't you?"

Destiny often gave impossible tasks to humans who had no talents at all. Then the children would make the hero very lucky while throwing all kinds ob obstacles into the way of the villain. Whenever this caused someone to die Destiny had to sent the paperwork to Death. Usually it was bad Fortune who played the messenger.

Bad Fortune looked at his sister, his face expressionless. "When I brought our list to him last week I heard someone scream in his office. He refused to let me in and he didn't even had the paperwork ready for me to take back."

Good Fortune scowled in thought. "But... What could have Death that busy?"

"That's what we're going to find out", Destiny declared, clearly annoyed that bad Fortune had spoiled her surprise."Follow me!"

The three deities entered the tunnel and began their descent on the long staircase into the darkness. The light that was being emitted from good Fortune's light skin and dress was the only one they had. Eventually they reached a portal. It wasn't an actual door for it consisted of nothing but white mist. When you watched the swirling mist long enough you could make out shapes and faces in it and maybe even hear whispering voices. But the trio didn't have time for this today. Upon opening the portal then entered a dark cave. Jewels embedded in the ceiling were emitting a light blue gleam. The cave was empty but through it a river flowed. It was a very dirty river, tainted by thousands of souls who had fallen in and worm demons who lived underwater, feeding on them. But the dying souls were leaving behind nacre streaks on the water. Even though their fate was an unfortunate one, Destiny thought it was very pretty.

There was only one lonely wooden landing stage and it was abandoned.

"He should come in about two minutes", bad Fortune said, so the trio sat down on the planks to wait.

Sure enough two minutes later a slim but neat little boat came down the river. A tall figure stood at the oar.

"Norik! Over here!", Destiny called and waved at him.

Norik the ferryman (older brother to Charon, who was working at the border to the living world) was the one who escorted all the deities to each others realms when they wanted to pay a visit. Technically they could just open magical portals themselves but bursting into a foreign realm like that was considered very rude. That's why they needed Norik to cross the Styx.

Together they passed the realms of Time, Nature, Magic and the four Elements before reaching the shore of Death's realm. His portal was made out of clean bones. The door knob was shaped like a skull. Or more likely, it _was _a skull. Destiny said goodbye to the ferryman and knocked at the door.

The skull promptly morphed into an ugly grimace. Leathery skin covered the bald face that sported little horns on top. It was a gargoyle.

"What do you want!?", the creature snapped, as rude as always.

"We're here to pay a visit to your master", Destiny proclaimed.

"He's busy. Go away!"

"Tsk, tsk", she made. "And there I was thinking Death rejects no one."

"He'll make an exception for you. Now toddle off!"

But you couldn't get rid of Destiny that easy. She did not like being pushed away. From all the deities she was probably the only one who didn't fear Death – at least from those that had to deal with him on a regular basis. Death was powerful, alright. It was because he just couldn't be fazed by anything. He was inevitable. Even if he annoyed you there was absolutely nothing you could threaten him with. His continued existence was mandatory in order for life to work and life in turn was essential for most deities, including her. If he stopped doing his duty only for a single day chaos would ensure. On the other hand Death was one of the few, oh so few things that could actually kill a deity or god or weaken its power. Destiny was one of the few people who was safe from him though and that was simply because she had destined herself to exist. Death might not believe in her power (which was ridiculous in itself because he knew how her power worked) and thus was convinced he could still kill her if he really wanted to. He had threatened to do so often but she had just laughed him off. She was confident that he couldn't harm her.

But the respect Death held among the entities of the otherworld was not only through his power. It was also because he was decent enough not to misuse it. Even if he had the power to kill, well, everything whenever he wanted he didn't do it. He waited for them to die on themselves (which made him good friends with Nature). He was the exact opposite to Destiny in that he was very patient. He never meddled with others affairs, didn't fight or fool around, in short he was incredibly boring and dutiful. That was why Destiny liked to mess with him, snatching away as many souls as she could from him, if only temporally. And always when he was about to snap she would come back with a peace offering, a little gift here, a small favor there, an entire country ruined by a deadly epidemic and everything was alright again.

That was why she felt confident to ignore the ranting of the gargoyle as she made her way through the portal. Bad Fortune run ahead to announce his Mistress' presence.

Death's realm was a dark wasteland. Most of the landscape consisted of desert but all the colors were reversed. The sand was a ghostly blue and at the black sky a purple sun emitted her creepy light. Here and there one could see a dead tree and bones sticking out of the dunes. Every now and then a rock formation could be seen. Those were full of tunnels in which the gargoyles lived. Even a few lost souls could be seen wandering around looking for a way out. Destiny didn't bother to take pity on them. They were probably here for centuries already. Their sanity was long since lost.

Whatever dangerous creatures might be hidden in the sand kept away from the deity as she made her way to the tower in which Death lived. Or not lived, whichever way you looked at it. The tower was a dark, oblique thing with lots of holes in the roof, dead ivy in between the tattered bricks and stone gargoyles at every corner. Again they knocked at the door. This time the one opening for her was a dark skinned teenager with short black hair and a cold edge to his gray eyes. It was Pain, one of Death's higher employees and his assistant. Much like good and bad Fortune he too had a sister. She was called Suffering and, unbeknownst to Destiny, was currently stationed in the living world to take care of the jobs Death was too busy to tend to at the moment.

"You're not allowed to enter!", he rejected the trio. Again Destiny wouldn't let herself be chased away. She just pushed past him. Pain was just a minor deity and as such he didn't dare to use his powers on Destiny. However he did try to follow, even to attack her but during to bad Fortune's influence he tripped ofter his own feet whenever he tried to grab them.

When they finally reached the door to Death's office they were surprised that there was indeed coming an infernal screaming from within. However it wasn't the screaming of damned souls tortured for their crimes. It was the screaming of a little baby.

"Just what the hell is going on in there?", Destiny mused aloud. Making up her mind she pushed the door open, this time without knocking.

She was met with one of those pictures you just _had _to capture with a camera. Of course she wasn't lucky enough to have one nearby. Good Fortune however was and was happily making use of it.

There was a baby lying on the desk wearing nothing but his nappy. The entire room was full of baby stuff, ranging from stuffed animals to baby bottles, blankets and the like. The white walls were sporting childish paintings from wax crayons and a little radio on the ground was playing a lullaby. The whole room was smelling badly. In front of the desk Death sat on the ground, cradling a book called 'Babies first year for Dummies'. He was wearing his usual black robe (although it was strained with something that looked like spinach) but his dark look was somewhat compromised by the pair of pink fluffy earmuffs.

"Alright", Destiny announced herself, "I might have come at a bad time."

Behind her Pain had caught himself and stumbled into the office.

"Master, I'm sorry", he apologizes. "They just came barging in here."

Death soundly ignored him until good Fortune skipped over to him and stole his earmuffs.

"Hey!", Death protested and leaped to his feet. "What – what the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to see for myself what kind of mess you found yourself in", she answered and chuckled. "That's not quite what I was expecting."

""It's none of you business! You're not invited, leave!"

"Tsk, tsk", she made and stepped closer to study the child. "My, where did you get the little stinker?"  
"He – kind of – I don't have to tell you that!" Death was lucky he didn't possess any blood or he would have blushed.

"I hate to disillusion you, Death, but you wouldn't exactly be my first choice when it comes to babysitting."

"Well thank hell nobody was crazy enough to sire a child with you."

"No, honestly, where did you get the child?"

Death sighed in defeat. "I... I found him."  
"And his parents?"  
"Dead. He's... He was all alone."

"Since when has your realm become an orphanage?" Destiny took a step back from the child. "He stinks."  
Tiredly Death put away his book. "Does he?"  
"You can't tell?", she asked incredulously. "It smells like a public toilet in here."

"Well, maybe you haven't noticed but I don't have a nose..."

"Tsk, tsk", she made again. "Good Fortune, bring me a few clean nappies. Bad Fortune, I need a napkin and some water. Pain, search for some baby powder in this mess..."

Pain looked at Death uncertainly. It was not in his nature to take commands from anyone but his master. Death sighed and nodded at him to do what he was told.

"How do _you _know how to change a baby?", he wanted to know from the woman.

"It comes with the package."  
"Of being Destiny?", he asked doubtful.

"Of being female, you moron! Now make yourself useful and clean up this mess."

The little feud between Death and Destiny was several millennia old but they were more bickering then actually fighting most of the time. If Destiny wanted someone to die before or after his time was due she needed Death's permission. In the first case he had no problem with it but the second usually caused an argument, which was why she didn't always ask for permission. This time however Death was the one who needed her help, he was intelligent enough to see that. In his opinion she owned him anyway so he had no problem with her taking control temporally.

This way Harry Potter was changed, cleaned up and fed (that's cow milk, babies need mother milk!). The room was cleaned up, the light dimmed and finally, _finally _the little tyke fell asleep.

Exhausted the five deities sat down the floor below. Gargoyles came to serve some drinks and Pain was told to watch over the baby in case it stared crying again.

A lot of persuading, begging, and threatening to leave him alone with the child were needed but eventually Death told her how he came to be in that situation.

"Wait, so you're saying the killing curse hit _you..._ and rebounded?"

"What was it supposed to do, kill me?", Death answered annoyed. "That wasn't the strange thing. The strange thing was that afterwards the boy could _see me._"

"That is very strange indeed. But you said a piece of the soul of the other guy had attached itself to him. A loose soul would be able to see you, no problem."

"That would mean that the boy absorbed the magical and spiritual abilities of the soul. At least partly during that moment. It didn't last for long, though. A few days later he couldn't see me even if I stood right in front of him."  
"But he's seeing you now."  
"Only because I gave him the ability to do so."

"I see... Well, exactly what are you planning on doing with the boy?"

Death shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't plan on taking him with me. It just happened."

"Why haven't you brought him back then?"

"I – Well, I... It's just that he doesn't have anyone anymore... and..."  
"Oh", Destiny cooed and patted his knee. "Has the little guy grown on you?"

"Wha – I – no! I mean – I'm Death. I don't have that kind of emotion. I don't have a conscience. I can't afford to. I'm Death!"

"Sure you are. - Oh, do you hear that, the baby is crying again."

"What!?" Death stood up abruptly, something akin to panic in his voice. That was until Destiny started laughing of course.

"You are a menace", he growled.

"Yes, well, I hear that a lot."

"That should make you think about yourself."  
"Aw, but where would be the fun in that?" She shrugged off his objection. "Listen, Death, if you plan on keeping the kid you'll need help. I just so happen to be the only one who could possibly lend you a hand and you know that. Who else would you turn to? Most of the other forces aren't even corporal most of the time. Nature would demand you bring him back to his world, the Elements could hurt him accidentally and the human gods would demand extraordinary prices. You know how wary they are of you. I'm not sure if you're aware of this but you don't have a lot of friends."  
"Of course I don't. What would I need something like that for?", Death asked exasperated.

"Well, for cases like this, obviously." She laid a hand on good and bad Fortunes shoulders, who were sitting on either side of her. "It's not just the baby business. When the boy grows up he'll need friends his age – or at least, friends who can pretend to be his age. I'm sure these two would be delighted to play with him."

"I'm not even sure if I'll keep him", Death protested. "I haven't decided yet."

"Yes you have", Destiny proclaimed. "The boy is destined for greatness – oh, don't look at me like that! Did you really think I wouldn't notice that he's a chosen one? I was the one who came up with his prophecy after all. Do you want to hear its contents?"

She recited the prophecy that was meant to end the Dark Lord's reign.  
"..._and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...", s_he finished. "Neat, isn't it?"

But Death only rose from his chair in anger again. "No, it's not! He's only a little child, how can you possibly expect him to defeat a Dark Lord?"  
Destiny seemed to be a little bit miffed. "It wouldn't make sense to destine someone who was already a long-time rival and equal in power. That wouldn't be much of a prediction, everyone could do that. But a boy-hero is exactly what gives the world the right flavor."

"He's _one year old!"_

"Tsk, tsk, aren't you protective?" She signed. "Alright, what about a deal? I'll make a new prophecy that clearly states he will be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord, not just the one who has the power to do so. That way not only will the Dark Lord be unable to kill the boy, Harry will also be practically immortal until he completes his task and fulfills his destiny." The deity knew very well that Death was perfectly capable of protecting his ward on his own from his ultimate demise. While he wasn't able to bring back a soul that had entered the light he could revive someone who had only died seconds ago. He could take the soul with him instead of sending it into the light. It wouldn't be able to enter earth again without a body (at least not unless it learned how to possess people) but it wouldn't be dead either. Destiny was offering a chance for the boy to live on earth and do so peacefully until he was powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord.

"In return I'll be the dwarfs godmother and you'll sent him back to earth when he's ready. You don't have the time to take care of him during most of the day and you know that. You may give him all kinds of awesome powers or just let him be a normal kid. I don't care as long as in the end he's the one to vanquish the Dark Lord."  
Death contemplated her offer for a moment. He hated the thought that his little brat had such a heavy burden to shoulder. He knew the Dark Lord wasn't dead and that it wasn't enough to just kill him anyway. One had to collect all the soul pieces first in order to 'vanquish' him. Agreeing to this deal also meant that he himself wouldn't be able to touch the Dark Lord and protect his ward from him.

"He'll be the one to kill off the main soul", he said finally. "Whatever precautions he took in order to escape me may be taken care of by other people."  
"Deal", Destiny replied and shook hands with the skeleton. "It was a pleasure making business with you."  
"Shut the hell up."


	3. Harry's deathday

**Five years later. The otherworld.**

Harry James Potter was a very cheerful kid. Although he grew up in a rather dark environment he was always energetic, curious and keen to explore the realm. Together with his two best friends, good Fortune and bad Fortune, he would hunt down gargoyles, play tag with lost souls and search for hidden demons in the dunes. His daddy was at work for most of the day but he'd always be back in the evening in order to tell him stories of the other deities, forces, gods and sometimes even the living world. Two years ago he had had his first burst of accidentally magic. Now he was being tutored in how to control it by Pain twice a week while Suffering would teach him the basics of human life like math, grammar and stuff like that. They may not be experts at either subjects but they certainly knew how to motivate Harry. He hated those lessons, mainly because Pain tended to sent electrical shocks through his body whenever he did something wrong and Suffering was very strict and demanding in her lectures. Still he knew they were only doing their jobs and outside of the classroom they even joined him and his friends for their games occasionally.

Today however they weren't playing around. Today was a special day – today was his deathday.

Every year he would get a special present, people would only be nice to him and we would get away with stuff he normally wasn't allowed to do. On his deathday he had been allowed to ride his first gargoyle, accompany his daddy to the living world to watch him at work, got to visit Aunt Destiny's realm and other cool things. On his deathday daddy would stay at home the entire day, sending out Pain and Suffering instead to collect the souls on his list. Harry wished he'd do that more often but whenever they took over for him temporally Death would be in a bad mood for at least a week when they let a soul slip past. It only meant more work for him later on. Harry understood this and was all the more happy he made sure to be with him on his special day. Plus he was kind of glad Pain and Suffering weren't there for his party.

When Harry woke up in the morning he put on his clothes in record time. Giddy as hell he left his room that was located at the very top of the tower. He almost came running into the kitchen the floor below where Death sat. In front of him was a chessboard. Apparently he was playing against himself.

Good Fortune was at the stove preparing pancakes for him (Death was a terrible cook).

"Good morning Harry!", good Fortune greeted him happily.

"Good morning, Fortune", he called back.

"And there he is, our deathday boy", his daddy said and put the chessboard away. "Come here, little one."

Harry grinned and let himself be pulled on Death's lap. It wasn't exactly comfortable – kind of like sitting on a tree branch – but his arm bones held him securely.

"When is Auntie Des coming?", Harry wanted to know.

"She should arrive any moment." Death chuckled. "You're eager to get your present, aren't you?"

"I want to know! Can't you tell me what it is, daddy?"

But Death just shook his head. "This time around you got to chose your present. She'll bring her own offerings for you."

"The other guests will arrive for lunch", good Fortune explained.

"Other guests?"  
Death patted his head. "You're now six years old, Harry. You're no little child anymore."

He looked at him quizzically. "Then what am I?"  
"Just a child", good Fortune laughed.

Death cleared his throat. "Anyway, our neighbors want to know how you've been doing. Be nice and polite to everyone and they might give you other gifts."

"Okay... If you say so."

In this moment a gargoyle entered the kitchen, announcing the presence of two visitors at the portal.

"Send them in", Death commanded. "This will be Destiny and bad Fortune."

He was right. Destiny came barging in like a thunderstorm in her usual manner. She gave Harry a loving hug before moving her hands through his hair to make it even more messy then it already was.

"Aw, my little man is all grown up now", she cooed and took one of the pancakes good Fortune offered to her. "I bet you're excited for today."

"Of course I am! It's my deathday."

"And what a wonderful deathday it is. Not many people get the pleasure of being able to celebrate on such a special date."  
"What do you mean?", Harry asked confused.

"Samhain", Death explained. "It's a special date. Our realm is closest to the living world on this day. That's why sometimes souls and ghosts could be summoned to appear in front of humans on that day. Magic is also very powerful on this night."  
"Of course", Destiny interrupted, "humans have completely forgotten about this. Today they call this day Halloween and all they're doing is stuff themselves with unhealthy food and play pranks on unsuspecting old people."

"Aw, please don't ruin the moment, Mistress", good Fortune complained. "Samhain is a great festivity. One only gets to celebrate ones deathday once a year and we want to make it a wonderful party."

"Hey, I was wondering", Harry said, "I don't even know when your deathdays are."

The deities looked at each other surprised for a moment.

"Our deathdays?"

Death scratched his chin in thought. "Well, technically speaking, I suppose every day of the year is my deathday. It's a _death_day, after all."  
Harry pouted. "That's not fair."

He shrugged. "It's not like I'm getting any presents."

"Deities don't have deathdays", destiny explained. "Instead we have worshipping days."

"Worshipping days?"

She nodded. "Samhain is Death's worshipping day, to be held every year. I'm choosing my worshipping day anew every few years. It's on days that I complete a major project of mine."

"My worshipping day is the beginning of the new year", good Fortune declared. "I have around half a dozen of those since different groups of humans celebrate it at different times."

"Lucky you", Harry grumbled. "What about you, bad Fortune?"

Bad Fortune blinked. "Well... There isn't exactly anybody worshipping me, so..."

"Bad Fortune simply celebrates together with his sister", Destiny said.

"It would be far easier if all of you got a deathday", Harry decided. "And more fair too."

"Well", Death began with a little uncertainty. "That's not exactly possible. Usually the deathday celebrates the day a person died. For the most part it's celebrated by ghosts and demons. Since we're not meant to die we won't ever have a deathday."  
"Humans celebrate birthdays instead", Destiny added. "But being born isn't exactly difficult. I mean, it's no great accomplishment or anything. However you passing the border between the living world and this realm was your first great experience, therefore, we're celebrating it as your day."  
"Technically you're not even a real dead one. But 'passing over day' doesn't sound nearly as attractive as deathday", Death said confidently.

It had been roughly a year since Harry had entered the state in which he was nonstop asking questions. It was then Death and Destiny had decided that they wouldn't hide anything from him. Harry knew that he was human, that his parents were in the light and Death had taken him from their house. He knew his parents were murdered and the he was destined to kill their murderer. He knew that Death and Destiny were deities and so were his friends. But they never made him feel different or alone. He knew they loved him very much and he returned that love fiercely. Still the more stories he would hear about the living world the more he dreamed about going there. Death had taken him with him a couple of times (of course hidden under mountains of protection magic) but he wanted to see what human children were like. They had always promised him that he would be able to go when he was eleven years old and entered school.

"What about we're showing you your presents now?", Destiny said when they finished their breakfast. The deities didn't need to eat but except for Death, who had no stomach at all, at least they could and did so in order to keep Harry company. Usually it was Suffering who was cooking for him. Only when she was out good Fortune took her place. Death wouldn't be able to produce a decent meal if his life depended on it.

Harry was very excited to see what he would get. His sort-of-parents lead him downstairs and onto the next floor.

"You have been walking around my realm freely as of now", Death explained, "although it can be a very dangerous place should you ever get separated from your friends. We thought that soon you would want to explore other realms and maybe even the human world. For this you'll need a loyal companion who can protect you. You got to chose which one you want to take."

Death opened the door to the next floor that was enchanted to be at least five times its normal size. In there lay a gigantic beast around 20 feet tall. Harry had never seen anything quite like that. It had four legs and short gray fur, three heads with short snouts and sharp teeth. All the heads were raised when the creature caught their scent first and watched them with curiosity.

"That's a Cerberus", Death explained. "It's one of the pubs the guardian dog of the portal leading to hell got last month. They're perfect for warding what you want to protect and when you call them they won't stop until they're at your side. They'd destroy entire cities on their way if they have to. That's perfect if you found yourself captured anywhere for some reason."  
"Uhm, that's... cool?", Harry said a little uncertainly. Granted, the 'pub' didn't seem too aggressive, just watching them curiously and wagging its tail but those three giant heads kind of freaked Harry out. There wasn't much he was afraid of, being Death's adopted son and all that, but hell was one of these things. He knew that Pain worked there part-time and any place that would offer him a job made him wary.

Still Harry forced himself to pet the oversized dog before he was allowed to follow the deities to the next floor.

This one was filled to the brink with birds. They were all black in color, some sitting on the furniture, some eying him as if he was food and some just making infernal noise.

"These are the very special messenger crows", Destiny explained. "They can deliver messages from one realm into another and can even cross the border to the living world. Also they can give you the ability to fly on your own. Having their power on your side would make it possible for you to visit the other realms whenever you liked. This could be very useful once you start living. And of course they're very good in spying on people", she added with an evil grin.

Harry was delighted at the idea of being able to fly on his own. He had only had the chance of flying a gargoyle once and never again (since the beast hat almost bitten off his headand his Dad refused to let him try again) but he had enjoyed the experience as if flying was his second nature.

Still when he tried to pet a crow or just get it to land on his arm they refused or ignored him.

"Crows are very prideful", good Fortune explained. "They won't let themselves be treated like a pet. Also they'll only appear when you call them and disappear after they got their mission."  
"They also expect payment for their service", bad Fortune supplied.

This was a little bit disappointing but Harry mad sure not to show this. Still when they entered the next room he was hoping for a better present. He got the exact opposite.

"And this", Death declared proudly, "is my henchman. Well, one of them, anyway. I finally found one of them wandering the world of the living. I'm still searching for the rest but if you take him as your servant you won't only have complete control over him and all of his kind, you'll also be able to call them to you. I was actually hoping you could investigate a bit on earth, let's see what they've been up to... Harry? Harry, is everything alright?"  
Harry had turned white as a sheet and was staring at the creature in front of him in sheer horror. In fact he looked about to faint.

"What happened to him?", Death wondered aloud.

"No idea. Maybe he doesn't like your present?" Destiny turned towards the henchman. "Shush, leave us alone for a moment."

Death nodded and the creature left. Still it needed some time, a lot of cooing and a splash of water until Harry came to his senses again.

"There was... there was a scream...", he gasped. "A woman was screaming."

"Nobody was screaming", bad Fortune informed him worriedly.

"Hm", Death made, "it seems you're not spared from the negative effect my henchmen have on humans. Even though he didn't do anything, his mere presence might have been enough to drain you of all your happy thoughts."  
Harry looked at him in horror.

"Oh, don't worry, it's only temporally. They'll come back in a minute."

"May I propose you don't chose the henchmen as your companions", Destiny said smiling.

"I... I'll be happy if I never have to see them again."

"Such a shame", Death murmured. "They could've made you really powerful."

"Aw, get over it already. Come on, we still have one last floor."

With shaky legs Harry followed them through the next door. Behind it there sat another dog. However this one was only about four feet tall with long, scraggy black fur and lucent yellow eyes. He made his way towards Harry at once, wagging his tail and licked his hands while he tried to pat him.

"That's a Grim", Death explained. "There's nothing better then a Grim at finding people or objects. When I have to hunt down a particularly slippery soul I sent one of them to scout before. They'll watch the target for a couple of days to learn everything about it. Where it would hide, who would help him and so on. When I finally come to claim the soul there's nowhere it could hide from me because the Grim will find it. Of course for you as a human he's not of much use until you start hunting down Voldemort..."  
But Harry wasn't listening anymore. He had fallen in love with the big dog on first sight. So did the dog if it was any indication that he had rolled on his back to let himself be petted and cuddled by the six-year-old.

Death sighed. He had wanted to give his little boy as much power as he could for his later life. While the Cerberus and his henchmen would've protected him he had also held high hopes for the crows. Now he would have to search for another way for Harry to be able to sent messages to him. He should have figured that he would chose the least powerful familiar. Harry was just too good for his own good sometimes.

For the rest of the day Harry played with his new pet who he had oh-so-creatively called Grim. Meanwhile Death and Destiny were preparing for the other guests to arrive.

The otherworld had its own social circles just like the living world. Basically there were the gods, powerful creatures created by the human mind and imagination. They were only ever as powerful as the human belief in them was. Then there were the forces. They usually kept to themselves, sometimes even refusing to take a physical shape entirely. They just existed and they would continue to even when the planet exploded. Therefore they were the most powerful of them but also the ones least interested in the living world. Time, Magic and Nature belonged to them. Death and Destiny were rather good acquainted with them because they were neighbors (meaning their realm was only a few minutes down the Styx) but even they did not know how many forces existed or what their limits were.

Hey themselves belonged to the last group, the deities. Much like the forces they just existed. However their existence was bound to the world of the living. They had been there on the very first day the first life (or in Destiny's case, the first human) came to be and they would cease to exist when the last one did. For some, like Pain and Suffering, their existence was enough to keep the world running, others like Death had to work hard in order to keep the balance.

For beings from all three kinds to meet in one place was very rare. To do so in order to celebrate was completely unheard of.

They had invited pretty much everyone there was but understandably very few were comfortable going to a party into the realm of Death. Today they were expecting their three neighboring forces to come together with the deities Love, Revenge and the Element Air. From the gods both the god of light and the one of hell had come. Both watched over the souls Death pushed into the light and punished or rewarded them depending on their judgment. Death had worked with them before, so there wasn't any surprise here. However there were a few minor gods who had accepted the invitation. Death assumed it was simply out of curiosity. There was the god of the sea. (Although gods came and went every few hundred years there was always a god of the sea. Seamen seemed to be very superstitious.) There was the god of traveling and, for some reason, the god of dog sledge racing.

The reason Death had invited so many guests was that he hoped that if Harry did make a good impression they would give him gifts on their own, even if it was just a backhanded bribe for himself. Of course every gift given by even someone less powerful like a god would still provide Harry with an incredible advantage for his life. Hell, if he became really powerful it might even be possible for him to become a god himself. In order for that to happen all he needed would be to get enough people to belief he was one. The Dark Lord might just be a human but over the last few years Death had become rather overprotective and paranoid. He just wanted to give Harry the best protection he could provide.

Slowly one guest after another arrived. For this occasion the Fortune siblings had put a giant tent in front of Death's tower, decorated with many lanterns made out of skulls that were glowing in different colors. There was plenty of food too and Death had hired the goddess of dance to provide entertainment. After playing in the desert Harry had to be cleaned up first (Destiny fussed a lot about his messy hair) and Grim was sent to hunt a few gargoyles before the boy was to step in front of the crowd.

"I'm not sure if I can do this", he said to his friends anxiously. "I didn't know there would be so many!"

"Don't worry", good Fortune said and took his hands. "All you'll need is a little bit of luck. And I hereby give it to you!"

"Thanks, but... They're all deities and stuff and I'm just a human. What if they laugh at me?"

"Then I'll make them scream in pain", Pain declared with a cold glare. He may be strict to Harry as a tutor but he too had developed a possessive and protective side for him. "Nobody will ever dare to belittle you while I'm there."

"Don't forget about your daddy and aunt either", bad Fortune reminded him. "They wouldn't dare to anger them by being impolite towards you. You may just be a human but you are in all of our hearts. We will always protect you."

That was all the encouragement he needed. Since Harry had never met any other humans (and since he was only six) he did not truly comprehend how much of a difference there was between him and his guests. He did not understand that for them this wasn't about him at all, only about his not-quite-parents. Granted, the forces may only seek some variety in their life but for the plans of the other deities and gods having Death own you a favor was a chance few would decline.

Harry stepped into the tent with good and bad Fortune at his sides and the crowd grew silent.

* * *

XxX

Alright, after this chapter it should be pretty much clear, but I'll still give you a warning: Harry will be ridiculously powerful in this fic. He's not only immortal during to the prophecy, he also possesses the abilities the deities will give him. He may not be particulary clever but he'll enjoy just freaking the hell out of his fellow humans just by being himself. That ought to be _very_ funny indeed. But don't worry, his new family will still get their fair share when he enteres Hogwarts.


	4. Presents

**Same day. The otherworld.**

"Uhm, hello everybody", he called in a small voice. "Thanks for coming to the party." Good Fortune squeezed his hand encouragingly and Harry found his usual bright smile again. "Let's all have fun and play together!"

For a moment there was silence. Then the whispering started. Between all those different entities there was a fierce competition. Nobody had ever outright told them to work together, much less _play. _But such was the mind of a child. The element of wind was the first one to break the uncomfortable silence. She rushed over to him, lifted him up and twirled him around. "Aww, look at this cute little boy! Have you ever seen such bright eyes sparkling with mischief? Have you ever seen such adorable messy hair?"

Wind, who had a similar statue as Suffering but wore the head of some kind of bird Harry didn't know, hugged him closely.

"I bet you're a natural at flying! You were made to be airborne!"

Now several of the other guests began to chuckle.

Death was approaching, his usual scythe absent for the occasion and rescued Harry from the overenthusiastic woman.  
"I'm afraid Harry is a human and thus bound to stay on the ground."  
"Nonsense! I know his kind uses brooms in order to fly."

"Uhm, I don't know about brooms", Harry said, remembering to stay polite. "But I've flown a gargoyle once."

Wind shook her head. "No, that won't do. Flying should be your second nature. Just you wait and see." Again she patted his head. For a moment the tips of his hair were faintly glowing. Unbeknownst to him Wind had enhanced his natural affinity for flying, making it possible for him to stay in perfect control on whatever means of flying transportation he used.

Winking at Death, who of course understood what had happened, Wind gave Harry a last huge grin before turning to the buffet.

Now that the ice was broken other entities took notice of the boy. They came to talk to him, wanting to know how he came to be in Death's care, how he was faring and the like.

Meanwhile Destiny had been caught by Nature. The force was a beautiful woman in a long green dress that was covered with living butterflies. Ivy was braided into her brown locks but her look was strict as she talked with the deity.

"I really do not understand why you support him", she said scowling. "Humans are not meant to enter our dimension. He should be in his own world, raised by his own kind."

"You're probably right", Destiny gave in quickly, "and it's not as if he's going to stay here forever. As soon as he turns eleven he'll return to the world of the living to enter school."

Nature lifted an eyebrow and glanced over at Death. "Are you sure that's what he intends to do? Will he just sent the boy back?"

"He'll have to. Harry won't stay a child forever. He'll want to see the world he was born into. Besides, I have a deal with Death. Harry Potter is still destined to vanquish the Dark Lord."

"Which one?"  
"The one who calls himself Voldemort."

"Hm..." Nature's gaze grew distant for a moment. "Ah, that one. I see. He has broken many laws and has evoked my anger many times. You shouldn't have entangled him in your prophecies. There are more then enough people in this dimension who would like to make him suffer themselves."

"I think once he's dead the god of hell will make sure he regrets ever being born."

Nature nodded. "I will make sure of this personally."

Destiny sighed in relief. "Then I presume this means we have your blessing?"  
"As long as he spends the majority of his life in the living world I will refrain from taking any actions against you."

Destiny bowed her head lightly. "Thank you."

The force nodded curtly. "Do not let it become a habit."

On the other side of the tent Death was talking with Time. For some reason she had decided to take the form of a black cat.

"When I first told Space you would take in a human child he wouldn't believe me", the cat said, shaking her head. "It was so unlike you. You probably wouldn't have believed me yourself. And now look at you!"

"Harry is different", Death said. "He is... so very full of life. For thousands of years now I have accompanied humans into the light. Over this time one easily forgets that the souls one is working with are beings on their own. Beings with feelings and memories and dreams. Harry has reminded me of this."

"You did really need him, Death. With him at your side you won't be lonely any longer."

"Well, that will change once he leaves for the living world", Death grumbled.

"You could always visit him."

"Hrmph", he made, "when I stay at the living world at one place for more then a few minutes humans start to die on me. I don't want him to be seen as a bad omen."

"Well, he can visit you just as well."

"Well yes, during vacation. But what if he needs my help during the school year? What if he wants to sent me letters or just talk with me? He isn't able to open a portal. His grim can do that but he can't take him with him during school. He'd always have to wait for one of us to open a portal for him. I would need a means for him to be able to do that."

Time laughed at him. "Oh, you're so very discreet, Death! Why don't you just ask me directly?"

Death huffed. "Fine! If that's what it needs. Would you please ask Space to give him a means for interdimensional traveling? You're the only one he listens to."

The black cat stretched and gave him a grin no feline should be able to manage. "Of course I will. For a human boy to awaken your forgotten heart, that's an unique case. Don't worry about the boy. He will do fine."

Without wanting to Death relaxed. Time knew everything about past, present and future. When she said his little boy would be fine, than he _would _be. Still it didn't hurt to make sure.

Said little boy was currently surrounded by both the god of light and hell. They actually looked a lot alike and Harry wondered if they were siblings, like so many deities who were closely connected were. Of course they were still easily discernible by the fact that the one wore only white, the other only black clothing.

"So you're the kid who wants to sent me this Voldemort-guy?", the god of hell asked. "You don't look like much. Are you sure you can do that?"

"Uhm", Harry answered uncertainly. "Auntie Destiny said I was destined to do so and because of that nothing would happen to me until I did... and also nobody would be able to kill Voldemort until I did it either."

"Destiny is a rather powerful deity", the god of light stated. "However it's entirely up to you if you defeat the guy in a duel or let him seize the entire world, become a professional cook and someday when you're both old and gray you're accidentally serving him a poisonous pufferfish."

The other god laughed at that prospect. "That I would call dying in bad style! Maybe you should aim for that, just for the fun of it."

Harry grinned. "I'll try!"

"You really should", the god of light said seriously. "After all, murderers don't go into the light after they die. And you'd want to see your parents again, wouldn't you?"

Harry looked at him with big eyes. "Do you know my parents?"

The god nodded. "Lily and James Potter. They reside in my realm."

The little boy got all excited. "Could I go and visit them?"

But the god shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You're still alive, kid. Death may tolerate, even welcome you in his realm but in mine the rules are far stricter. The road to the afterlife only goes one way."

Harry deflated visibly. He loved his family consisting of Death, destiny, the Fortune siblings and even Pain and Suffering to some extend. Still he was curious about his parents. After all Death had told him about the stunt his mother had pulled shortly after she had been killed trying to protect him. When even Death said he had never met someone quite like her she must have been a remarkable person. He would have liked to get to know her and his biological father.

"Does that mean... I'll never get to know them? Not even when I die? If I kill Voldemort... I'll end up in hell?" The prospect frightened him somewhat. Not nearly as much as it would every other boy his age, during to the fact that he grew up with deities, but still hell was a realm even Death only spoke of with contempt. It was also where Pain worked if he wasn't doing business for Death and Harry knew that those electrical shocks he received from him as punishment occasionally where nowhere near the pain he brought his victims.

But the god of hell shook his head. "I don't think Death would allow that to happen. You'd either stay here or enter the circle of rebirth."

"Oh", Harry made. He was relieved but at the same time it still meant he'd never get to know his parents. People who were reborn simply lost all their memories.

For a moment it was silent. Then the god of hell sighed and nudged his counterpart.

"Hey, Light, come on. Can't you make an exception for him? He just want's to talk to his parents."

But the god was not giving in. "Those are the rules, as you are very well aware. He can't meet them."

But Harry, knowing the god of hell was on his side, pulled out his most effective weapon: the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no! No, don't look at me that way!"

Harry repressed a grin and pushed his lower lip forward a little, making it quiver as if he was about to cry.

Not even the god of light could withstand that look.

"Oh, fine!", he called out defeated. "But no visits! You're allowed to write them."

Harrys face was split by a large grin immediately.

"_One _letter. Each year. That'll have to be enough."

"Thank you, Sir!", Harry beamed and hugged the god, even though he could only reach his waistline. The god patted his head awkwardly while his counterpart was rolling on the floor laughing at the picture. He was receiving a withering glare for that but didn't seem to mind.

Harry would be able to get to know his parents! It was the best deathday ever.

* * *

XxX

I know it's a short chapter... But the next one will be longer, I promise! I just had such a nice break here.


	5. Hogwarts letter

Hello folks. You loved the puppy dog eyes, didn't you? ;-) Well, he'll get some more powers in time. Just wait for the next chapter. I don't want to reveal them all at once to the other charas. Grim might have his entrance only in third year, I'm not sure yet.

On the comment if Harry wouldn't age because of the prophecy...You know when he gets a knife in his chest or an AK to the head his luck would probably prevent it, but if it doesn't, he'd feel the pain, probably even be out for a short time, but stay alife. But no, he does age just normally. Most prophecies are indeed self-fullfilling. Only when the hero has real trouble Destiny would give him a push, using the Fortune siblings to determine the outcome. She rarely _ever _makes a prophecy that exact as 'That one guy will kill the other'. It's just no fun. But when she does (and this time she did) he is indeed unable to die before fulfilling the prophecy. There are three exceptions, as far as I see right now. Age, disease and some scenario where his entire body shuts down, for example he jumps into an active volcano or ends up in space without a spacesuit. The last case good Fortune will prevent from even happening. He probably wouldn't even be able to do it himself. (Think of it as an extremely strong notice-me-not-ward around the volcano.) The second he'd just have the luck that his immun system reacts really well or, if it's a bad case, right at this time a better cure gets invented. Age is the one thing they can't stop but that's alright because when Harry's 100 Voldemort would be around 160. When he's around Dumbledores level, Voldymort is getting senile so really, he shouldn't have any problems. On the other hand if he refuses or just doesn't manage to defeat him in a duel before he turns old, Destiny would probably really make it so he cooks a poisnous pufferfish before he can die of old age.

All in all Destinys power is less of an absolute force and more like someting that just never failed before and isn't likely to fail anytime soon either. I hope I could explain it to you how I want it to be (and that I won't forget and contradict myself later on).

Feel free to ask further questions. This experiment is still new and I'm still in the process of working everything out. I like the idea of how Harrys magic can work diffrently or rather more freely. But that's something that will ahve to come with practise and we'll have to wait for him to be at school for that.

XxX

* * *

**Five years later. The otherworld.**

Death was sitting in the kitchen and looked down at the letter on the table morosely. This was it. This was the day he had feared for the last decade.

Pain patted his arm awkwardly. "You knew this would happen someday."

"Yes", Death admitted, "but that doesn't make it any easier."

He sighed. Normally he couldn't stand her but now he wished Destiny would be present. She knew how to relax such depressing situations.

The letter was made out of heavy parchment. There was no address, only a name. _Harry Potter._

Destiny had told him that every Hogwarts student would get such a letter. She hadn't been sure however if they'd even sent one for him since they couldn't know where he was. But it seemed there was someone at the school naive enough to hope that an owl would manage what dozens of search parties had failed at.

Of course owls couldn't enter the otherworld. It was Magic herself that had made sure they'd get the letter. Now Death almost wished he hadn't asked for her help.

"Why can't we just give the letter to the brat?", Suffering asked annoyed when the silence grew too thick for her.

Pain shot her a glare but Death just sighed again.

Suffering was a cold-hearted, impatient teenager. Most of the time she was clad in black leather, using her whip to capture fleeing souls and other victims. While Pain had the power to harm the body of a person or simply cause their nerves to be aflame, Suffering had power over the mind. She could make people live through their worst nightmares, be it in illusion or for real. She could manipulate their hearts, play with their emotions and crush their will. She could drive a married couple to murder each other. She could make a father want to rape his little son and turn little girls into serial killers. She could turn good people into monsters. That was her power. For those good people she was far more frighting then Pain, but for monsters like Voldemort it was merely an annoyance.

While Suffering was just as loyal to Death as Pain she was far colder. She was simply lacking in basic empathy and tact. Still Death had decided to sent both siblings with Harry as bodyguards. He would've gone himself but that would've caused a massacre and he wanted Harry to make a good first impression. Plus he still had work to do.

"Why can't you just leave him alone for a moment?", Pain demanded. But Death shook his head. "No, she's right. I have to get this over with. Pain, bring the boy here. Suffering, would you send for Destiny and Magic? We have to make the last preparations."

Both his assistants left.

Although Suffering had to travel into two different realms, Pain would probably need more time. After all he had to search the entire desert for his charge.

Harry Potter was still a child. He had been confronted with much horror and wore a heavy burden, which was more then most his age could shoulder. However all of this was told to him in the form of bedtime stories. Over the last years he had received six letters from his parents. They would've probably sent him six heavy books full of love but the god of light had decided that their letters couldn't weigh more then a certain amount and they had to use normal parchment. That's why the letters were always filled to the brink with tiny letters that were almost unreadable.

Although Harry had been tutored in the customs of the living world most of it he still learned from those letters. At first Lily and James had been appalled that he had been adopted by Death of all people. But he had always assured them that he was fine and happy. He had told them of his little adventures and classes. His father had always intoned how proud of him he was for standing up to deities and his mother always made sure that whatever he chose to do in life or where he would want to spent it they'd always love him. Aside from that he learned much about his fathers time at Hogwarts with the marauders and from Lily he got tips and tricks how to befriend human children. Although he had asked for it they were very reluctant to tell him stories about the war. They still thought he was too young for that and the one time a year they were allowed to write to him they wanted to give him happy feelings and not scare him. After all they knew of his destiny and thought it was terrible to burden him with it so soon, taking away the chance of a normal childhood completely. If it weren't for the fact that Destiny felt her position as Harrys parent threatened by them and Death was still a little miffed at Lily for shoving him into the line of the killing curse even if it _had _been what brought Harry to his attention in the first place they'd probably spend good time making their anger towards the deities known. But as it was it was never wise to anger a deity, especially not one who held the life and future of your son in their hands.

Learning about his parents had turned young Harry into something of a troublemaker himself. For the most part it was the gargoyles who had to endure his little pranks. Unfortunately his friends the Fortune siblings were practically immune to them. Good Fortune was just too lucky and never even noticed his traps. However when he wanted to prank bad Fortune every single one of his preparations just kind of failed and he ended up pranking himself. Pain was the one who brought the material he needed from the living world so that left only Suffering, whose revenge was horrifying, or his Dad and Aunt. Both of them took his antics with stride and Destiny even laughed at them together with him.

Aside from outward pranking he also liked to generally annoy his guardians, for example by playing hide and seek or tag. That was why Pain had to chase the boy through the entire realm. He might be a deity but even he had trouble keeping up with a Grim – and unfortunately Harry was sitting on his back.

Half an hour later Harry finally stood in front of Death, holding the long anticipated letter in his hands. While he was eagerly ripping the envelope apart Death was in the room next door, talking to Magic.

The force hadn't bothered to take a distinct shape today and as such appeared to be nothing but a ball of light the size of a human skull that sent out an occasional lighting bolt.

"I get it that the boy has a great destiny", a distinct female voice could be heard from the ball, "but he seems pretty well off to me already. Surely with you and your little court together he will manage."

Death sighed. "I'm not asking this because of the Dark Lord out for his blood. It's because if he wants to open a portal to my realm by himself he will need much more power then he has now."

"A portal to the otherworld? Where would we be if everybody could just open portals like that!"

Right in this moment Destiny and the Fortune siblings entered. While the latter ones went to keep Harry company, Destiny came walking towards them. "His ability shall be limited to only Death's realm. Magic, you can't honestly believe that anyone would misuse that ability. Humans spent their entire lifes avoiding that bastard over here."

Death scowled at her for the insult – or would have if his head was more then just bone.

Magic still sounded a little bit unconvinced. "Even if I were to give him the magical boost necessary for him to gain such an ability, we can't have him dimension hopping like that. Space wouldn't allow it."

"I've already talked to Space about this."  
"Oh? And did he give his approval to you?"

"Maybe not to me directly but I asked Time to convince him and she said the matter was settled. We tried to find another way but it's no use. All I want is for him to have a place to turn to when he needs it."

"Come on, just give yourself a little push", Destiny said and tried to nudge magic, but had to recoil from the angry lighting bolts. "This is the vanquisher of Voldemort we're talking about. As far as I'm concerned everyone, be it god, deity or force, should help him with his fate."  
"I do not discriminate between dark and light magic", Magic replied, clearly annoyed.

"That's right and we're not asking you to do so. But if you'd do this favor for me, I'd own you", Death said.

"Hm", Magic said and appeared to think. "There is indeed something I'd like..."

"Tsk, tsk", Destiny made, "Death, you're calling in a lot of favors lately."  
But Magic sent out a nasty little lighting bolt that gave her an unpleasant shock. "No, stupid, I'm not interested in dead people. It's something your boy shall do for me."  
"What is it?", Death asked warily.  
"It's about the muggleborns. Although the reign of Voldemort has long since been interrupted their situation has not changed one bit. There are parents who will kill their own children or abuse them to the point they deny their own nature because they are magical. Those that survive to learn about me are shunned by their peers and don't find any work. They return into the muggle world, some even denying my very existence. If your boy is already destined to become a hero, I want him to use that fame to better their position. What I gave them is a gift and I do not like it being disregarded or even cursed."

"I think that won't be a problem", Destiny said.

Harry was being called over. After Magic's wish was explained to him he promised to take care of the problem. The force then stuck him with a thin lighting bolt, right on his similar shaped scar. For a moment the little boy felt a surge of power enter his body. He felt as if something was swelling inside of him. A moment later the feeling was gone. There was no noticeable change, aside from...

"Hey! Wow, that's cool, I can see everything so much clearer now!" The boy laughed and looked around, marveling at his new sight.

"Did you give him enhanced senses too?", Destiny asked curiously.

"No. He might have had bad eyesight, though. His magical core is now much larger, which enhances his regenerative abilities. His body took care of his lack of sight for him."  
The two deities felt kind of bad for never noticing their adoptive son might have had bad eyesight. It was just that as deities, theirs was naturally enhanced and could not exactly be compared to that of a human.

However they were saved from pondering over that fact much longer when Harry tugged at Deaths sleeve.

"Daddy, the letter says I need all kinds of stuff for school. Do you know where I can get them?"

The magic ball pulsed one last time. "It seems my work is done here. Always remember, boy, that your magic is a gift from me. I can take it away from you just as easily as I gave it to you. Always cherish your gift and let it not be wasted."

Harry nodded eagerly. "I'll make you proud, Magic, I promise!"

The force seemed to be a little surprised at the childs natural openness and honesty. Finally she just let out a sigh.

"I really hope I won't regret it", she said.

After the force was gone Death took Harry aside.

"Alright Harry, listen closely. Pain and Suffering will take you to the world of the living – don't look at me like that, she's just doing her job."

"But what about Grim? He's more then enough to protect me," Harry pouted.

Death shook his head. "Grims are very well known to me omen of, well, me. He'll come with you as a precaution this time but he'll stay invisible and thus won't scare away the non-dangerous but annoying people. Also whenever you have to leave Hogwarts for some reason other then coming here I want you to have at least one bodyguard with you."

"But...! I don't need a bodyguard. I'm eleven now!"

"Yes, you're eleven but eleven is still very young. Even ordinary human children don't go out on their own without parents."

"Don't worry so much about it", Destiny reassured him. "You can call good or bad Fortune to go with you when you're going on a trip. Of course, if you plan something greater, like for example breaking into a secret dungeon under your school... or into a bank... or the ministry... or a prison or something like that then you should probably call for Pain and Suffering. They'll be of more use when it comes to actual fighting."

Death gave her a strange look. Destiny didn't see the future like Time did but sometimes she had this foreboding. Many deities possessed such a sixth sense. For example when good Fortune left her place she'd go through her room and sometimes just take random objects with her purely on instinct. It was how she always got a camera ready when something happened or other little items of regular use. This same sense was it that told Death where to go to collect the next soul every day and what told Suffering the greatest weakness of the human heart of her victim.

When Destiny made a prophecy she wasn't seeing the future. She simply determined that something should happen and her power would make it happen. Theoretically that would make her the most powerful entities in the otherworld if it weren't for two facts. One, she could only make prophecy about big changes. If she lost her favorite purse she couldn't just destine herself to find it. It didn't work that way. Two, there was an actual limit too how long her prophecy could be. She couldn't stuff too many details in it and she couldn't use actual names (the danger of there being two persons with the same name was too great). Therefore her predictions were vague and often didn't even contain a time limit.

But sometimes she would make a remark like she did now about Harry breaking into all kinds of secure locations, and doing so quite seriously too. Most people wouldn't think any of it since Harry was a troublemaker. It was entirely possible that bit off more then he could chew in his first year. But when Destiny said things like that they usually became true. Death just hoped that it wouldn't all happen in his first year.

"Oh, I almost forgot", Destiny said, "you shouldn't have any trouble being admitted to Hogwarts, since you're obviously magical, but some people may doubt you're actually Harry Potter. Death took you with him right after Voldemort fled. He's still gone but with your parents dying that night too the only explanation for your disappearance they may have come up with would be your death. As in, you know, they think you're dead. People might ask questions about where you've been all those years."

"You can't tell them, of course", Death hurried to say. "Human's aren't supposed to know about the otherworld."  
"Huh? Why not?", Harry wanted to know.

"Well, how to explain..." Destiny tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Imagine there being a pack of wild Grims that do nothing else then chasing gargoyles all day. And then your Grim would come along and tell them how much more fun he has with you, how you even get to visit other realms occasionally, meet other people, get better food and the like. Suddenly all the Grims want to be your pets. But you're not allowed take them in or you simply don't want to or are too lazy or whatever. And now all the Grims sit in front of your tower and wait for you to come out but you refuse and wish for them to go. Some even starve to death in front of your window and then they got the nerve to blame _you _for it. Just because you're more intelligent then them and have all kinds of cool friends and the like they think you should be responsible for them but you aren't and you don't want to be. Well, that's the same with the humans for us."

"What Destiny wants to say", Death interrupted her when Harry only looked confused, "is that we don't want humans to blame us for their own messed up lifes. The gods are the only ones who reveal themselves occasionally but I have never done so, not for the living ones and neither has Destiny. Even if you told them they'd probably just don't believe you."

"Then what should I say if someone asks me?"  
Death shrugged. "Don't say anything. I think we've given you enough power to enable you to withstand anything they'd possibly throw at you short of being expelled – and they can't expel you for not telling them where you spent your holidays."  
"If they're really mean to you, you can always prank them a little", Destiny chuckled. "Try to experiment a little with your new magic. Or just sent your grim at them."

"Don't bother to buy a wand. I know the letter says you need one, but you'll get one from me. It'll be an early deathday gift."

"Oh, and when you go to the world of the living, don't forget to buy some kind of bird. You can sent us letters by sending the bird through a portal and we can sent it back."  
"He doesn't _have _to do that, I'm sure the school has owls on its own."

"Well, I suppose that's true..."

"But make sure nobody notices you opening a portal!"

"Don't mention you're still in contact with your parents! It's supposed to be impossible. You can already do so much impossible stuff, no need to frighten those poor ordinary souls any more."

"Be nice to the muggleborns. You know you promised Magic to better their situation."  
"Be nice to everyone, not just muggleborns", Destiny huffed. "Every great hero needs his flock of followers."

"Oh, and don't forget to watch out for my henchmen, will you? I found the last one walking around the living world, maybe there are more of them who got lost."

"And Harry, don't forget to-"  
"Dad, Auntie Des, really, I'm just going shopping today! I promise I won't start a war until lunch, alright? Just tell me how to open these blasted portals already."

The two deities exchanged a nervous glance. They may not like to admit it but they were just as excited as Harry was and roughly ten times as worried. Destiny would have liked to go with him herself but if there were indeed people asking questions Harry Potter accompanied by a strange woman who was not related and yet was called Auntie would be very suspicious. They might think she had kidnapped him or something. (She hadn't, of course. That had been Death. But try to tell that some human paper pushers.) Not that the opinion of humans would bother her but all those questions could cause trouble for her little Harry and then he wouldn't be able to do his shopping in time. On the other hand Pain and Suffering were young enough both in looks and behaviors to pass as a group of Hogwarts students. Chances were good Harry wouldn't even be noticed amongst them and once he was at Hogwarts the officials couldn't reach him.

Death showed Harry how to use his great supply on magic to open a dimension portal. Then it was time to say goodbye. Although he'd only be away for one afternoon Destiny nearly cried. It was the first time he entered the living world on his own and without being concealed by Death's magic that made him invisible. It was the first time he'd get to interact with actual people.

Harry hugged Death, who cleared his throat and patted his head awkwardly. Destiny only chuckled at them before giving Harry a hug herself and kissing him on the cheek.

Bad Fortune just nodded at him in greeting but his sister stepped forward nervously. Although the sibling still looked six years old they had stayed close to Harry when he grew up. They simply became from friends to little siblings to him and he would always cherish them even if he couldn't grow up with them together.

"Uhm, when you're... When you're going into the world of the living now...", good Fortune murmured, "I... I wanted to give you something."

"Sure. What's it?"

Fortune looked around at the other deities, who as if on command pretended to be absorbed in a conversation. She waved Harry closer until he leaned down to her. Quickly Fortune planted a light kiss on his cheek and smiled at him.

"That's for good luck", she said. The next second she turned around and practically fled the room.

Harry watched her a little bit confused, rubbing his cheek. Little did he know that from now on he'd be the luckiest human the world had seen in his century.

"Come on, Harry", Pain called him over. "It's time to go." Death had already opened a portal in the form of an empty door frame. It was not possible for Harry to open one to a place he had never been but for their way back he'd be the one to open one for them. Together Pain, Suffering, the human child and his grim stepped thought the portal and left the otherworld behind. It was time for Harry Potter to make his entrance.


	6. Enter: Harry Potter

Hello folks!

Harry is learning a few new skills today. I now have a vague idea where this fanfic is going. It will be hilarious, that's for sure.

I still haven't decided where to sort him though. He'll certainly have enough ambition to fit into Slytherin. He's not afraid of anything except maybe hell but does that make him brave? Harry is very loyal to his family and intends to keep all the promises he made to the otherworld inhabitants. He's very talented and powerful but not a genius. So, where to put him, what do you think?

XxX

* * *

Harry stepped through door frame and found himself at the end of a dark, dirty alley that stank disgustingly.

"Urgh", he made, "why did we have to come out at a place like this?"  
"Space is the only one who can open portals without limitations", Suffering explained. "Everyone else has to use an anchor. Death for example can only open portals to a place were recently something died." She pointed towards a very dirty, very sickly looking and very dead rat in a corner of the alley. Grim sniffed it curiously.

"Magic didn't say anything about limitations", Harry huffed.

"That's because you have permission of Space to open portals indifferently. Your limitation is your very own magic. During to the boost given to you today you have a lot more then the average human but you'll still only be able to open a portal three times a day at most."

"I would advise you to not to use this to travel around the world, though", Suffering added. "Better not to challenge the forces."

"Will do", Harry answered impatiently. "Can we go shopping now?"

Suffering rolled her eyes but Pain just grinned. "Yes we can, kiddo."

"I'll be around if you need me", the female declared. Then she jumped and landed on the next roof. Her movement was far to fast for human eyes to process but Harry was used to people just flickering out of view.

The duo left the dead end and entered the main alley, which was just as dark and dirty as the rest of what they'd seen. The humans around them all wore dark cloaks that obscured their faces and quite a few stopped to stare at them. Harry realized that they probably looked a little bit out of place. Grim may be invisible to them but Pain wore his usual black and white 'muggle' clothes and Harry had never spent that much thought on his appearance. His clothes were muggle too but he at least got a black outer cloak to go with it. He may not dress up like his aunt but he didn't fancy wearing the same boring robes every day like his Dad either. But those humans all looked like dirtier versions of the skeleton of doom and Harry couldn't help but look down on them a little. At least his appearance was clean.

Pain seemed to have noticed that they stood out too because at one point he told Harry to wait and vanished into a side alley. He came back with a cloak on his own and when Harry glimpsed into the gap he saw a human curled up in fetal position shaking and with a look of pure horror on his face.

"Let's move on", Pain said as if nothing had happened. Harry felt kind of bad for the poor human but it wasn't as if he wasn't used to it.

Pain lead Harry out of the dirty place and into a brighter alley – Diagon Alley, as it was called.

"We're going to need some way of payment first", the deity stated. "You still remember about money, don't you?"

"Of course I do", Harry huffed. "Humans give each other small metal pieces called coins in exchange for goods or services."

"Exactly. We don't really have any money though... That's why we have to do this the traditional way. If a deity wants something from a human he'll usually pay with favors or threaten him. That tends to make sure you get better quality, too. Tell me, what's first on your list?"

"Uhm, that would be my uniform."

"Alright, do you want to pay for it yourself or do you want me to do it?"  
"Huh?"

"I have more possibilities of course and we wouldn't need as much time but if you want to practice you can do it yourself too."  
"Well, I'd like to, if you tell me how."  
Pain smiled at him. "Of course. Let's see, you're magically powerful but have little control yet. You could use Grim to track down lost persons or objects and you have a talent at flying. That's not much yet but you're here to learn anyway." He hummed for a moment. "Alright, I've got an idea. You could walk up to a person and look out for an object or person they've lost. Then you're offering them to find it for them. Depending on how much worth the object it you can ask for just the things on your list or even bind them to provide you with similar things for your entire life."

"But will they even tell me what they need? What if they don't? What if they haven't lost anything?"  
"Everybody loses _something _during his life. You determine what it is via soul reading."  
Harrys face was a big question mark so Pain explained: "Soul reading is a common ability amongst otherworld inhabitants. Suffering can do it, as can the Fortune siblings and of course your aunt. I'm sure Master can too, he just doesn't make use of it often. Unfortunately I'm unable to do it since my power is physically centered."  
"Yes, but what _is _soul reading and can I even do it if you can't?"

"Soul reading is the art of knowing a human being inside and out just with one look at their eyes. You'll know all their feelings about different matters, their opinions and even memories from important events in their lifes as well as current surface thoughts. As I said it's an ability of deities, but your grim should be able to do it too. His kind has to be able to read a soul in order to always know where their victim will turn to."  
"Is it really okay for me to only use Grims's abilities?", the boy mused.

"He's your familiar. As such he is a part of you just like your hands and feet are. You know how to connect with the mind of your familiar, don't you?"

Harry grimaced but nodded. That lesson had been taught to him by Suffering. She had send him nightmares without end until he managed to flee his own body and seek refugee in Grim's mind.

"Grims are able to find out intents more then anything else, since they're still animals. With your intelligent mind to guide his you should be able to make use of his inborn ability and fully read a soul. All you'll have to do is to pull Grim's mind into your own instead of entering his. Do you understand?"  
"I... think I do", Harry said. "Let's try it out."

Pain lead the human child along the alley until they saw a shop that had various robes on display.

"Oh, before we're entering, one last thing." Pain raised a finger to catch his attention. "Humans will be more keen to believe in you if you show off a little. The deity glow is a useful instrument for this."

Again Harry was more confused then anything else. "Deity glow?"  
"You know that what we practice is rarely ever pure magic. It's more some kind of... spiritual energy. When traveling amongst humans we usually conceal that energy but if we leak it out a glow will surround us. Gods do that all the time. You've spent so much time not only in close proximity to several deities but also you grew up in the otherworld, a place filled to the brink with spiritual energy. Some of it mixed with your magic. It's not enough to do much with it although I think it would be hard to open a portal without any spiritual energy at all but you can create a deity glow. For now I'll break your natural barrier that keeps it at bay. Next time just concentrate on the feeling. Also we don't want to rock the boat too much. Repeat the name 'Madam Malkin' in your head. That seems to be the human who owns this place. She will be the only one who sees your deity glow."

Harry did as he was told and when Pain touched him he felt a weird tingle in his neck. He laid a shaky hand on Grims back as they entered the shop.

* * *

Madam Malkin had a busy day. Apparently the Hogwarts letters had been sent out and the first early shoppers had already stormed into her shop. She had spent half the day sticking needles at children and enduring their excited babbling. Just now there was a third and a first year and the latter was being berated on the Hogwarts houses. Madam Malkin had trouble hiding her sneer when she heard how her old house, Hufflepuff, was belittled by them. Ignorant fools!

The door bell rang again and Madam Malkin turned around, hiding her annoyance professionally.

What she saw made her mouth hang open and her knees shake for a moment.

In stepped the most beautiful child she had ever seen. No, not a child – this creature had to be some kind of supernatural being! The boy had the purist skin, the blackest hair and the most vibrant green eyes she had ever seen. His small frame was surrounded by an eternal golden glow and he walked with such a grace she was sure he had to be floating a few centimeters above the ground.

In her astonishment she had dropped her utensils. She felt like crying without even knowing why.

Then the boy turned around and looked at her. But he didn't just look, he _looked._ It felt as if she stood in front of him naked but she didn't feel embarrassed at all. He saw right into her very being. Their eyes met and it was as if she could hide nothing from him but she didn't want to anyway. The moment was only fleeting. She felt as if he now knew her better then anyone else, as if he _understood _her like she didn't even understand herself. When he _smiled _ it was as if the sun rose. He had seen everything, all her good and all her bad sides and he _approved _of her.

She had never felt this happy before.

Madam Malkin didn't notice the angry demand of the student next to her nor did she notice the teenager behind the wondrous child. She did however notice the faint scar on the forehead of the boy when he stepped closer to her. For a moment her breath caught in her throat. This was the _Chosen One_. The boy-who-lived, who had freed the world of the Dark Lord. She had heard stories about him. She had heard that he had died along with his parents. She had heard that he survived but was raised by Death Eaters or muggles or a loving wizarding family abroad. Nobody seemed to really know what happened to him but the majority of the wizarding world believed that he had survived. Why else would the ministry sent out such a large search party for him that hadn't been disbanded until five years after that fateful day? Madam Malkin was not very clever or politically engaged. She had not many connections and little overall knowledge on these events. Up until now she had been grateful for the end of the war. Maybe she had pitied the boy a little for the death of his parents but she had not belonged to his fans and worshippers.

But clearly she had been wrong. Oh, so wrong! He was not a child. He was indeed the Chosen One. He was a hero, a mystery, a _revelation. _He couldn't be _human._

"Elena Malkin?", the Chosen One asked. Madam Malkin felt like she was flying.  
"Y-Yes?", she croaked out, hating how weak her voice sounded.

"My name is Harry Potter. I would like to offer you my help."

"H-Help me?"

He nodded. "I know that you're very sad because of what happened to your daughter Mary-Ann."

She couldn't talk. Her throat felt so tight.

"I can't promise that you'd be able to see her again... But at least I could find her for you and tell you how she's doing."

Her thoughts raced. It had been a long time since she'd last thought about Mary-Ann. Madam Malkin was pureblood, her husband was a muggleborn. They had two daughters but while the first was a witch, Mary-Ann had been non-magical. When she was sixteen she had run away from home. Her husband had said a few awful things to her. Madam Malkin couldn't even blame her for turning her back on the family. She had tried to stop her, to get her to come back. For two years the girl had spent time in the muggle world, always living with different boyfriends. But then they had had a fight and she lost track of her after that. When her husband died Madam Malkin had wanted to contact her again but couldn't find her.

That was years ago. She had hired various detectives, both magical and muggle, but they hadn't been able to find anything. She still saved what little profit she earned with her shop in order to one day be able to revive the search.

"I would... I would like that very much", she whispered, somehow not doubting for a moment that this child was capable of finding her daughter. After all, he was the Chosen One.

Harry Potter grinned and nodded.

"Alright, I'll find her for you! Just wait and see."

He left the shop again, leaving Madam Malkin shaking with suppressed tears and still gaping a little in awe.

"Hey", on of the student on the stool said, "was that just really _the _Harry Potter?"

"It was the Chosen One", Madam Malkin whispered.

* * *

"Mary-Ann Malkin", Harry said as Pain and he strolled down the alley, "35 years old, a muggle born into a wizarding family. Grim thinks she's really far away though."

"That won't be a problem unless she's dead. Grim can use dimension travel with nothing but the object he's been commanded to track down as his anchor. He will be able to track the girl down and then you can see her through his eyes and determine where she is. If you were searching for an object you'd have to travel there yourself in order to retrieve it unless it's small enough for Grim to carry but in this case it will be enough to get the address."

Together they sat down on a bench in front of the apothecary. Harry had connected with his familiars mind multiple times already. In fact he often did so before letting Grim play tag with the Fortune siblings. The omen of Death was actually able to escape them and being in a dogs body racing over the dunes had been fun as hell. That's why it was no trouble at all for Harry to slip into Grims mind. His motionless body slumped against Pains shoulder.

Grim greeted him with a happy whirlpool of images and emotions. The information picked up from Elena Malkins soul were enough for the grim to know her daughters 'signature'. A yank went through the body of the grim as he leaped forward. Darkness surrounded them for a moment. When Harry could see again – Grims vision was also far sharper then his – he found himself in the garden of a huge white but dirty apartment house in the middle of the night. Grim went up the fire escape up to the fifth floor. Now they were able to watch a woman sleep in a four poster bed. The other side was empty.

Harry gave his grim a mental command and the beast leaped forward again. Instead of crushing against the window though he slipped right through the material.

In Grims body Harry looked around the apartment. He found a little girl sleeping in the room next door and photos of them at the fridge. Harry knew what a fridge was, he knew a lot of things that were common in a muggle house hold. His family had made sure he grew up with stuff like that, although most of the 'technology' they used were just replica of the real thing and didn't run on electricity at all. At the same time he was used to moving pictures too and knew what flooing, portkeying and apparition was even if he had never tried it.

Amongst those photos he saw one where a third person was cut out. It seemed whoever the father of the little girl was, he was not with Mary-Ann anymore.

Harry returned to the sleeping woman. Grim was sure that she was the one he had searched for, but how could he know that Mary-Ann wanted to see her mother at all? Maybe she liked it the way it was. He couldn't know without looking into her eyes.

Making a decision Harry gave another command to his grim. The creature jumped right onto the bed this time, his translucent form merging with the body of the woman. As a grim it was his duty to hunt down both humans who were to be victims to Death as well as any objects they may use to stay alive. But he also had to resort to methods similar to Sufferings by sending the victim nightmares and pressuring it with killing intent so that it would be thoroughly scared. That way it either gave in to his Master on its own or made mistakes on its run and thus enabled Pain or Suffering or the henchmen or whoever Death decided to sent after it if he didn't feel like coming himself. After all so many people died every day that even Death couldn't track down all those that died under complications.

When Grim merged with the woman he suddenly found himself in her mind. It was different then entering his familiar and it didn't really feel like he did it either. He was just the passenger, the one hiding behind the beast.

Soon Harry found his way into Mary-Anns dream. As it was in dreams she wasn't surprised to see him at all. They were walking in a park and the little girl was chasing flamingos in the distance.

"Who are you?", Mary-Ann asked curiously.

"I'm a friend of your mother", he answered. "Do you remember her?"

She nodded. "Of course I do. How's she doing?"

"She is leading a shop, selling robes", he answered. "She would like to see you again."

Her look saddened a bit. "I haven't seen her in many years."

"Would you like to do so now?"  
"I don't know. She was always taking my fathers side. I just felt... I felt as if there was no room for me in that family."

"You father is dead."  
Her eyes widened. "I didn't know that!"

"And your mother doesn't know that she's a grandmother either. You should tell her."

"Yeah, but... how do I find her?"

"She will find you."

Harry left the dream and found himself in Grims body again.

"Let's go back", he whispered.

Together with his familiar Harry wandered around a little until he had found out the woman's address. Apparently she lived in Kanada.

Back in his own body Harry opened his eyes and yawned sleepily. "I found out where she is", he said simply.

"Good. The second time I think you can go in there without a deity glow. You might have overdone it a little with her..." Muttering to himself he added: "That woman looked like she'd like to start a religion for you." Pain waved with an old newspaper he he had read. "I'll wait here for you."

Harry came back half an hour later – without any robes.

"What happened?", his tutor wanted to know.

"Well, she was really happy when I could tell her about Mary-Ann but when I said I needed a Hogwarts uniform she insisted that she wanted to tailor everything for me from the finest material and enchant them to be self-repairing and stuff. She said to come back in an hour."

"Alright. Then I suppose we should get you a trunk next so that you can carry your purchases around."

Paint stood up and together they made their way down the alley until they found a shop that sold enchanted trunks. Harry activated his deity glow again, almost scared the shopkeeper to his Dad and then made his way over to France together with Grim. There he found the old heirloom being auctioned off that had been stolen from the shopkeeper years ago. When he told the man where it was he excused himself and apparated straight to the ministry in order to get himself an international portkey to Paris. During to Harrys luck everything went well with his journey and he was back only one hour later in which Harry and Pain had met up with Suffering, who had blackmailed the owner of the apothecary to give her a beginners potions kit. Harry left the deal with a new trunk that had not only a password-protected lock but was also water- and fireproof as well as feather light and could be shrunken, enlarged and made to be hovering in the air with a tap of your wand. Of course it also had an expansion charm on it that made it possible to fit the furniture for a small apartment in it. After the potions kit, cauldron and robes were put in Suffering went to bully another shopkeeper into handling her a telescope and parchment while Harry went to the bookstore.

Mr Florish turned out to be a historian who's dream of life was it to one day read a book written by Merlin himself. Grim was able to find one in the ruins of an ancient castle whose wards where still intact, hiding the entire thing from both wizards and muggle. Luckily the book was waterproof so it wasn't damaged when Grim took in in his mouth to bring it to the bookstore.

Mr Florish burst out into tears at the prospect of being given such a valuable book. He used a few spells to determine its age. A more thorough investigation would have to be made to make sure it was really from Merlin but just for having such an old book Mr Florish let Harry have all his school books plus some more for free. He promised him a hefty discount on everything if the book was the real deal.

By now people had started to notice Harry. His deity glow was only visible for the shopkeepers he wanted something from but it was kind of telling when people fell on their knees in front of him, praising him as the Chosen One. After the entire bookstore had witnessed Mr Florish's vow of eternal gratefulness news of his presence made the round and everyone wanted to have a piece of him. They wanted to shake his hand, touch his robes and the like until Harry had trouble breathing. Luckily by now they had everything they needed. Harry managed to flee and hide in a corner behind the store where he could open a portal.

He knew that he was a chosen one with a great destiny – but it wasn't as if he had already reached his goal. He liked the prospect of having his own worshipping day but, well, he wanted to _earn _it. He had liked Madam Malkin and Mr Florish looking up to him, thanking him but he hadn't done anything for these strangers.

Luckily for Harry they finished his shopping and left for the otherworld just ten minutes before the first ministry officials arrived to see if the rumors about the supposed-to-be-dead hero's appearance.


	7. The most powerful wand

Back at the otherworld Harry had to tell his family all about his first trip to Diagon Alley. They all thought pulling the shopkeepers on his side was a wonderful idea.

"The letter still says I need a wand", Harry informed them. "That's the only thing I haven't got yet."

"Well, it wouldn't do for you do have an ordinary wand", Death answered with conviction. "In all honesty I don't know if a normal wand would even _work_ for you. It would be incredibly hard to control that tremendous amount of magic you have. Your spiritual energy could mess things up too. Therefore we'll make you a special wand."

"Okay... How do we do that?"

This time Destiny answered. "The wand chooses the wizard. While we can craft you the most powerful wand in existence, no problem, you'll have to search for the wood and a core yourself."

"How do I do that?"

"Harry, you've been blessed by a number of entities, amongst them Magic and good Fortune. You have to learn to rely on your instincts to make use of that gift. You might often have the feeling that maybe today is not the right day to prank a specific person or walk down a certain corridor. You should give in to that feeling because it's your instincts warning you of danger. The same way concentrating on what you want will make your magic react to your wishes. Don't forget your lessons with Pain. You already do know how to control your random magic bursts. A wand is nothing but a tool to direct your power but you can do magic without it just as well. It just needs more time and concentration. In order to find the wood for your wand, all you have to do is wander the desert and pick a tree."

That's what Harry did. He climbed onto Grims back and rode into the desert. All of the trees found here were dead and kinda creepy – not that he had seen many living ones. Most had dark bark but there were differences. On a whim Harry stopped in front of an old, gnarled tree. Grim jumped into the air, biting down with his impressive jaws on a branch and ripped it off the tree.

Harrys wandless magic was limited to summoning gusts of wind, lighting little fires and levitation. Concentrating hard Harry raised his hand over the tree branch until it hovered next to him.

"Let's go back", he told his familiar. Keeping the wood in the air was difficult while Grim was running but he managed anyway.

"Next you'll have to find a core", Death said once he was back. "There are lot of magical creatures both in the otherworld and the living one. Here, take this. It's a list of all the realms." He gave him a piece of parchment. "Close your eyes and chose one."

Harry closed his eyes. He let his finger hover over the list a few moment before randomly tipping on one name.

"Seems we don't have to go anywhere", Death chuckled, seeing as Harry had chosen his realm.

"Let's see, we have a lot of gargoyles here, as well as grims, demons and of course your family." He took out a compass. "Move the needle with your mind alone."

Again Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on the needle. When he opened them again it pointed straight ahead.

Death nodded. "Now you'll walk in the direction the needle points at and bring back the first magical being you encounter."

He stepped back to let Harry move through the door but as he did so the needle changed directions. Harry looked at it confused for a moment.

"Wha – but I'm concentrating!"

Death pieced him with his eyes and then took an experimental step to the side. The needle promptly followed him.

The deity sighed. "Harry, exactly what kind of tree did you get your wood from?"

"Uhm it was in the north-east, an old gnarled one. Why do you ask?"

"In the north your can find a lot of yew trees...Trees are generally more affiliated with life, therefore not many can use my special power. The most potent ones in this regard are elder and yew trees. Elder is channeling my power, guiding it towards the wielder. As such it's a very dangerous wood for a wand. The wielder would effectively be cursed by it, making it so that people around him die more often. It also tends to attract grims, making it easier for me to find such a person. Yew on the other hand is absorbing bits of my power that can be found everywhere where life ends. This power is stored inside of the wood until the time where the wielder chooses do release it. Every form of lethal magic will therefore be amplified. In fact, the shaft of my scythe", he motioned towards his weapon that stood in the hat stander, "is made out of yew."

"Okay, but... What does this have to do with my wand core?"

"Well, obviously – and not that unexpected either – you'll need something from myself for your wand."

"From you?", Harry asked in surprise. And who would blame him? He had been told that wand cores were usually something like hairs, feathers or flesh from some kind of magical beast. Death had neither of those things.

"Yes", he sighed, "from me. Now listen, because this is important: The wand I'll make you will easily be the most powerful wand the living world has ever seen – at least concerning offensive magic. It must _never _fall into the wrong hands. Once you think you don't need it anymore or you feel your end is coming give it to one of your bodyguards – or better yet, destroy it. Just snapping it won't be enough – I don't think it would even work. You have to vaporize it completely."

"Alright", Harry said a little wary. "But what exactly will you use as a core?"

Death raised a hand and Harry watched in a mix of fascination and horror as he plucked out one of his metacarpal bones.

"A-Are you serious?"

Death chuckled at him. "Don't look like that, kid. I have 214 bones, I can spare one for you."

Harry went a little green but was distracted when Grim dropped the tree branch into Deaths hands.

"I'll have it finished in ten minutes. You'll do wonders with that wand, that's for sure."

Sure enough ten minutes later Death presented a black wand to him. White lines were spiraling towards the tip and when Harry took it a cold feeling seemed to grab his heart. However it wasn't a cold that scared him, more like a refreshing breeze that flowed through his very soul and took with it everything that made him uncomfortable. Harry smiled happily.

"Try it out", Destiny encouraged him.

Harry didn't know much about magic but he knew that while he could let things hover a bit when he concentrated, he should be able to control flying objects when using a wand to channel his magic. That's why he concentrated on his magical core, closed his eyes and pushed some of his magic forward into the wand, intending on letting Grim hover.

Instead the wand did the strangest thing. The black handle grew thick and a lot longer. The white seemed to move to the top and grow out of it like a branch from a tree. Before Harry knew it instead of a wand he was holding a six foot long black scythe in his hand with a bone white blade.

He looked at Death in surprise, whose grin was even more pronounced then usually.

"Well", Pain said, "that certainly looks impressive."

"Are wands supposed to do that?", Harry asked with excitement.

"Well, no, they're not", Death admitted. "I just thought it would look awesome. Your wand will only change when you push a huge amount of magic in it. You won't have to do that for any of your schoolwork. It might be necessary for some of the more powerful spells, but when you're forced to use those I'm assuming you're in mortal danger. In that case this scythe is a more effective weapon to you."

"How so?"

"Well", Death said and grabbed his own scythe, "see, you can twirl around your scythe like that", he demonstrated, "and it will unleash the spell you're thinking about not in the usual manner of a single beam of light but in a far more widespread area. That way with one swing you can stun around twenty people standing around you. Or kill them. Or turn them into penguins. You get the picture."

"Hey, but don't you need a specific wand movement for each spell?"

"Well, yes, this form isn't bound to wand movements or incantations. You can even change the color of the light of the spell at will."

"Does that mean", Pain wanted to know, "he could scream 'Avada Kedavra' and throw around green light while thinking of a stunning spell and thus be able to fake the death of a dozen people?"

Harry grinned. "Sound's like a great prank!"

"Well, yes, but remember, we don't want you to be expelled. That means no genocide while still at school or we take away your wand and you have to do with a transfigured pencil", Destiny scolded him.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "I was kidding, Auntie Des!"

"Well, yes, I was not." She shook her head. "Alright, now that you had your first encounter with the living world on your own, what are your plans?"  
"My plans?"  
"Of course, your plans. According to Nature you have to spent more then half of your life there, you have to have some plans."

Harry shrugged. "Well, first I'll learn all about magic. Then I'll kill Voldemort."  
Silence.

"Yes... and then?"

"What about then?"

Death sighed. "Harry, I know that you're perfectly capable of killing Voldemort. You probably would be able to do it right now if you rely on your luck but in a few years you could defeat him in an actual fight too if you'd like that better. But once you did that, then what are your plans? A mortal life is so short. You have to have a dream you can work for."

"A dream I can work for...?"

"Yes. You can dream about anything. Don't be afraid to have high expectations of yourself."

"I can dream about anything?" Harry thought about that for a moment. "I would... I would very much like to one day be able to visit my parents. The god of hell once told me I wouldn't be able to because by the time I die after fulfilling the prophecy I would only end up in hell, be reborn or come here again and the god of light wouldn't let me in."

"But there is a way you could do that", Pain said.

Death gestured him to be silent, but he had already caught Harrys interest.

"What would I have to do?"

Pain shrugged. "All you'd have to do is become a god."  
Harrys eyes widened. "How do I do that?"

"Now, now", Death interrupted them, "this is nothing to be taken lightly. Divineness is not easily reached."  
"But you said I shouldn't be afraid to have high expectations!"  
Death looked down at him for a moment. Then he sighed. "I know, I know... It's just... There hasn't been a human turned god in nine hundred years. Normally it's the other way around. Humans just make up a new god and convince people to believe in him themselves until he turns real. In order to become a god one would have to start a religion on your own and gather followers who are not only dependent but also absolutely devoted to you."  
"But that's easy", Harry claimed confidently. "Those shopkeepers practically threw themselves at my feet and I didn't even do that much for them."

"Shopkeepers?"  
"He might have overdone the deity glow", Pain explained. "We didn't have any money to do the shopping, so..."  
"You do realize there's an entire vault with money left to him from his parents?", Destiny asked sharply.

"Uh..." Pain began to sweat. "I forgot?"  
Death sighed again. "Harry, please remember to sent an owl to Gringotts first chance you get to ask for your key."  
"Alright. But I still think I could manage building up a religion. You just need to give me a few tips."  
Death scratched his chin in thought. "A tip, huh? Well... You're already somewhat well-known. People will come to you for help, that's inevitable. When they do, just ask what you'll get in return. After some time, when they don't have anything to offer for you anymore, ask for their devotion."  
Harry scowled at that. "What is devor... devotion?"

"It's what makes them religious", Destiny explained.

"I don't understand", he admitted.

"Well", Death said, "when they're devoted to you you can ask them to do stuff for you. Either for yourself or to help other people who are devoted to you. Nothing too big at the beginning, you know, something equal to the things you did for them. In turn you have to take care of their needs and listen to their demands too. Eventually they will serve you and do small things for you and in return when they're in real danger you help them out."  
"You'll have to be careful, though", Pain meant. "Gods are a pretty jealous lot. You could get in trouble for stealing their believers. Don't offer your services for free. You should let them come to you instead."

"There's a bunch of other things to consider, tests to pass and conditions to fulfill, but for now, that will be enough", Death decided. "Fulfilling your prophecy will be a good start. Being the best student in your year might also help. But for now you should concentrate on learning how to handle that new wand of yours." He turned to Pain. "Take him out into the desert and let him practice with a few gargoyles, will you?"  
"Of course, Master."

"Thank you for the advise. I'll promise I'll become a good god and then I'll belong to your family for real!" Harry smiled brightly and Death couldn't help but feel moved my the declaration.

"Come on Grim, let's take down some gargoyles!"

Grim barked happily and laid down so Harry could climb on his back.

Death shook his head as he watched his adopted son and his assistant leave for another gargoyle-hunt. Those little things would be pissed at him later on, that was for sure.

"He's growing up so fast, don't you think?", Destiny sighed and leaned into him.

Death regarded the female deity warily but eventually allowed her to lay her head on his shoulder and her hands on his arm.

"He's a human", he replied. "They're so short-lived they have to enjoy every moment of it."

"You know, Death... around him I'm also feeling human."

"Me too, Destiny. Me too."


	8. Trains, Toads and Talking Hats

It was the September 1th and Harry was very excited. He had opened a Portal to London ten minutes ago and went to the station with his shrunken trunk in his pocket and Suffering at his side. The parting from his family had been very emotional and Auntie Des had even cried a little, even though he promised to write every week and whenever something happened. When they arrived at the station he was a little lost at first.

"Which platform do we need to go to?", Harry asked.

"No idea", Suffering said and shrugged indifferently.

"But... Then how am I supposed to get to the train?"

"Hrmpf." Suffering ripped a strap of cloth from her cloak and quickly blindfolded Harry. "You're the lucky one. Just wander around a bit, I'm sure you'll find it."

Suffering patted his head, spun him around until he didn't know where up and down was, much less left and right and then just sent him on his way. Harry felt as if he was being pushed into the cold water but hey, he liked swimming so who cares.

He supposed he must look a little bit ridiculous wandering around the crowd blindfolded. But he never bumped into anyone and when he finally pulled off the cloth he was standing right in front of a scarlet engine. He turned around to thank Suffering for her advice but the deity was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging to himself Harry entered the Hogwarts-Express. Soon he found himself an empty compartment and settled for the drive. On a hunch he unshrunk his trunk and rummaged through his books, pulling out the first one he got his fingers on. It turned out to be his potions book. Remembering to trust his instincts he flipped it open at a random page, searching for something interesting. It was a text about common antidotes, concentrating on the uses of bezoars.

Shortly before the train took off the door to his compartment opened and a boy with flaming red hair and lots of freckles entered.

"Uhm, sorry, can I sit here? The rest of the train is full."  
"I don't know", Harry answered, a little bit confused. "You think there's something stopping you?" Why wouldn't the boy be able to sit down? There was enough space for five other humans to fit in.

"Err, I suppose not." The boy began to struggle with his luggage, trying to lift it to the shelf over their heads. Harry watched him a couple of moments.

"What are you doing?", he finally asked.

"Trying to get my luggage up there. Wouldn't mind a little bit of help, actually", the boy replied between gritted teeth.

"Why don't you just levitate it? Or better yet, shrink it."

"Hey, I'm only a first year, I don't know how to do that."

"Well, I'm a first year too and I do."

"Why aren't you helping me then?"  
Harry blinked. "You didn't ask for help."

His mother had told him that even if he was much more powerful then his peers he shouldn't go around and boast about it. He should always help if someone asked but he shouldn't force himself on others. Death on the other hand had warned that if he offered his help for nothing people would soon be all over him and demand he help them with all their little needs and he wouldn't have time to take care of the real problems. He also had the lesson about how to built up a religion while still not stepping on other jealous gods toes in his mind.

"Well, can you please help me, then?", the boy snapped irritably.

"Of course I can", he replied smiling.

Silence.

"Well... and?"  
"And what?"  
"Well, _will _you help me?"  
"What would I get in return if I did?"  
The redhead rolled his eyes. "Forget about it", he spat and continued to struggle with the luggage.

Harry shrugged and turned back to his book. If he was to start a religion it made little sense to recruit humans who couldn't even levitate their own luggage on their own, he thought (unaware of the fact that none of the first years would be able to, much less wandless like him). He would have to recruit humans who had charm, power, intelligence or connections first. Those could be the leader of his religion and would do the recruiting of the lesser humans for him. Yes, that sounded like a great plan.

An awkward silence had settled over the two boys. Harry had skimmed though another two chapters of his books by the time the candy lady came by. Harry didn't have any money and apparently, the redhead didn't either so she passed them.

Harry was soon bored with his book. In fact, he didn't know how he managed to read so much on his own. It wasn't as they'd be tested for that kind of knowledge in their first week, right?

So bored as he was Harry tried to sleep a bit but found he couldn't. The redhead still seemed to be somewhat miffed with him and he wouldn't have known what to speak to him about anyway. Soon Harry found himself missing his family and friends. He really would've liked to have Grim with him right now.

Speaking of, he just got an idea.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to let his mind float free like he did when he took possession of Grims body. Maybe he would be able to... There it was! Harry nearly laughed in joy. He could feel Grims presence. It was far way, but not as far as he imagined he would've been if he were in Death's realm.

His familiar felt his mind nudging close and sent him a happy flow of colors.

Harry smiled and silently asked: _Where are you?_

While Grim was perfectly capable of understanding human language as long as it consisted of simple commands and common sentences, he couldn't answer in the same way. Instead Harry received the image of Grim sitting in the shadows of what appeared to be a study. There was a man sitting at the desk writing on a parchment who nervously looked around every few seconds. Harry realized that Death must've sent him on a mission to track down a soul that would die soon.

A rumbling noise broke his concentration and Harry found himself in the compartment again. There was a girl with bushy brown hair and large white front teeth standing in the door.

"Have you guys seen a toad here somewhere?", she asked with a snooty voice. "Neville lost his."  
"No", the redhead replied curtly.

"Who's Neville?", Harry wanted to know.

"Neville Longbottom." She pulled at the sleeve of someone who apparently stood next to her and pulled a small, plumb boy into his line of sight. "And I am Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you. I'm so excited to be here – my parents are both non-magical, they were so proud. You're-" Then she stopped and looked him over a second time. "Wait, didn't I see your face in the newspaper recently?"  
"You might have."  
"You're Harry Potter! You're the boy-who-lived!"

Harry shrugged at that while the redhead was gaping at him.

"Wait – that's a mistake. He can't be – can he?"

"Well", Hermione said, "he's supposed to be dead, but-"  
"Not dead." Surprisingly it was the timid boy next to her who spoke. He was looking at Harry with big eyes. "My grandma always said you were missing but not dead. They never found any... eh..."  
"Any body?", Harry helped him along. "No, I still needed that one, thanks."

"Oh, I've read all about you of course", Hermione babbled and then began to list all the books who mentioned him.

"Weren't you supposed to look for something?", the redhead interrupted her after a while.

"Of course", she said and stuck her nose into the air. "As I said, we're searching for Nevilles toad."

"And you need help in finding it", Harry intoned carefully. That was something he would actually like to help with but he wouldn't when he wasn't asked directly.

"Yes, that would be very nice of you", Hermione answered.

"I could help you", Harry said. "What would I get in return?"

Hermione seemed speechless for a moment, staring at him incredulously.

"Uhm, I...", Neville said finally, "I'd give you a chocolate frog card for it if you'd like."

Harry tilted his head in question. "Chocolate frog?"  
"Y-Yes... Are you not collecting?"

Harry shrugged. "I might as well start." He stood up and stretched a little for show.

"Alright, let's find that toad."

Harry closed his eyes and, now that he knew what it felt like, quickly connected with Grim. A couple of seconds later he had managed to pull the mind of the grim into his. He stepped out of the compartment and Grim caught the trace at once.

He heard a silent gasp behind him.

"Harry, your... your eyes!"

Harry turned around and saw his reflection in the glass door of the compartment. His eyes were glowing yellow, the same color Grims eyes had.

"Awesome!", he exclaimed and grinned. He had never noticed his eyes changing color before when Grim was with him. There weren't many mirrors in the otherworld and for its inhabitants something like changing eye colors wasn't exactly uncommon so nobody had mentioned it to him before.

Confidently Harry strode down the train with Neville and Hermione in his tow. They passed a couple of compartments. When he pulled a door open they were met with the curious stares of a couple of third years.

"Excuse me", Harry said smiling. Then he turned around. "Neville, I think over there under that seat, that could be your toad."

Indeed there was a great ugly toad sitting under one of the seats. Neville grabbed it happily and thanked Harry for finding his pet. Apparently his toad always run away but he had been afraid if it did so on the train he'd never find it again. He was so thankful he didn't give him only one but five chocolate frog cards, even if he admitted while blushing that they were fairly common ones. Harry didn't mind.

"Feel free to ask me for help if you lose something again", he offered. "I'm really good at finding things."

Neville promised he would. Harry wanted to return to his compartment, but Hermione stopped him.

"How did you do that?", she asked. "How did you know where his toad was?"

Harry tilted his head. Did her wanting to know something from him count as asking for help? He could give it a try.

"What's in it for me if I tell you?", he challenged.

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, you... You'll have done a nice thing."

"I've already done that by helping Neville."  
"That doesn't count, he gave you those cards for it! You're supposed to do at least one good deed a day."

Harry shook his head. "Doesn't apply to me. I'd end up in hell either way."

"Why... would you think that? What could you have possibly done to end up in hell?"  
"It's not about what I did. It's about what I _will _do." That didn't seem to reassure her. If anything it unnerved the girl even more so Harry quickly explained: "You know how I'm destined to kill Voldemort and stuff? Well, murderers go to hell." Hermione had flinched violently at his words. Harry thought he'd made his point pretty clear but she was just staring at him as if he had grown a second head.

"You – I – _what!?""_

You see, when humans kill each other... the one who does the killing goes to hell after Death takes his soul. Even if he kills a Voldemort. Don't you know that?"

"B-But – you – you said his name!"  
"Whose name? Death?" He knew he wasn't supposed to talk about Death but he hadn't mentioned that he lived with him so surely it was okay?  
"No – I mean – you-know-who!"  
"Who?"  
"You-know-who!"

"No, I don't know who..."  
Harry was seriously considering calling back Grim to perform a soul reading on her to know what the hell she was talking about. He didn't like feeling stupid.

"The Dark Lord! Nobody says his name. People are to afraid of him. I didn't think you of all people would dare to call him by his name."

Harry started at that – then he let out a laugh. "Hehe, you humans are funny. Why would I be afraid of calling Voldemort by his name? I'm the one who's destined to kill him. If anything, _he _should be afraid of _my name. _I'll make sure he learns to be for what he did to my parents."

Hermione looked at him with wonder and incredulity. She had never met someone quite like him and found herself unsettled.

"You shouldn't rely on those stories people tell about you. Something like destiny doesn't exist."

Now it was Harrys turn to stare at her incredulously. "What did you just say?"

"I said you shouldn't rely-"  
"No, no, after that!"  
She scowled. "I said something like destiny doesn't exist. It's just an excuse people make up so they can shove their own responsibilities on someone else or lay back and be lazy."

Harrys eyes went dark. Undercover or not, he would _not _allow some petty human to insult _his _family!

"Destiny _does _exist! You have no idea what you're talking about. Just because it's your fate to stay an ordinary human and snooty bookworm forever doesn't mean some people aren't destined for greater things. It's not like I'm counting on Destiny and good Fortune alone. I plan on becoming ridiculously powerful as well. I wanted to offer you my help in the future because you're a muggleborn and might need help to come in touch with Magic. But if you don't apologize I think I might make an exception for you."

By that point Hermione was flabbergasted. She thought Harry was an arrogant prat who looked down on intelligence and her muggle heritage. She couldn't know that from his point of view implying killing Voldemort might not be his responsibility was a serious insult to him. Claiming Destiny didn't exist was one thing. He could just laugh that off. She was only an ordinary human after all, she couldn't know better. But everyone who dared to question his position as a chosen one basically called his aunt a liar and he simply couldn't have that.

Since Hermione didn't answer Harry turned around to leave. Before he could reach his compartment however he encountered a group of three boys. The one blonde one in the middle was flanked by two bigger ones. They probably tried to look intimating but only looked stupid to Harry.

"The rumor is true then", the smaller boy drawled. "Harry Potter enters Hogwarts this year. My name is Draco Malfoy. Those are Crabbe and Goyle."

"Nice to meet you", Harry replied, still somewhat cold.

"You will soon learn that what kind of friends you make will greatly reflect on you. Some wizarding families are better then others. I could help you with that."

He stuck out his hand for him to shake. Harry, who had learned about this human custom but never actually shook someones hand, glanced at it with amusement before shaking it.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't need the help of a human. I'm the kind of guy who helps others, not the other way around."

"I'm sure we could help each other", he answered with a smirk. "Do you know which house you'll end up in?"  
"It doesn't matter. I'll reach my goal regardless of the house."

"What is you goal then, Potter?"  
Harry shrugged. "Well, to kill Voldemort of course."

Malfoy became white as a sheet. His two bodyguards flinched violently.

The blonde grabbed Harry by his arm and glared at him fiercely. "One first good advice, Potter. _Do not speak that name out a loud! _Really, where the hell did you grow up, under a stone? You can't just go around telling stuff like that."

Harry scowled at him. "You don't get to tell me what I can or can't say. You don't have that kind of power over me."

"You'll make a lot of enemies with that attitude, Potter."

Harry blinked. Then a large grin spread on his face. "I never had an enemy before!" That was another human experience. Maybe not the most fun one but nonetheless one that belonged to human life. It was new and it was exciting.

Malfoy stared at him in surprise and then incredulity. Then he shook his head.

"Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. It seems Potter is barmy."

Not bothered in the least Harry went back to his compartment. By now it was time to change into his robes and soon the train came to a stop.

A giant of a man was calling the first years to him. Harry shared a boat with Neville and two other boys. After McGonogalls speech they were left alone. Harry was most interested in the group of ghost that passed while they were waiting. He knew that ghosts didn't have their soul anymore. (His Dad wouldn't have allowed them to stay otherwise.) They were mere imprints of their former mind. Harry still found them interesting.

The names for the sorting were called and amongst them was Harrys.

When it was his turn Harry stepped forward confidently and put on the hat.

"_Oh! Oh my, what do we have here?"_, a high voice called in his head. "_Raised by Death and Destiny, are you? What an incredible story!"  
_Hey! Nobody is supposed to know that!, Harry protested.

"_Don't worry, child. Your secret is safe with me. Although I dare say you will have trouble keeping it. Let's see, where should I put you? Your ambition is one of the highest I have ever heard of. Then again, it could very well be possible for you to reach it. Cunning however is not your favorite tool. Your talents are mainly founded on your blessings. You have something in your head and know secrets no other human knows. Ravenclaw, maybe... You are not afraid of anything except maybe hell... But Gryffindor braveness is not about fearlessness, it's about overcoming your fears. Hufflepuff... Yes, you are very loyal to your family. Eager to help others too. But you are foreign to the way, ah... _humans _act. You will have a hard time to find people who would ask you for help in other houses."_

If Hufflepuff will help me to gather devoted humans, I'll go there, Harry decided.

"_If that is what you want... I would wish you good luck but I think you already got that thanks to your little friend. Enjoy life in _HUFFLEPUFF!_"_

* * *

_XxX_

Hello folks!

I'm happy you like my fanfic thus far. Nobody really had any preference which house Harry should go to. I liked the idea of writing a powerful Puff (power puff boy... O_o) though, simply because it's not done that often. Also if he's neither in Gryffindor nor in Slytherin he will have the chance to get friends in both houses eventually. Of course that's only after he has the whole Hufflepuff house under his rule XD


	9. Wanna have a lemon drop?

Hi folks!

Some of you may notice that Harry is acting very Slytherin occasionally. The reason he's still in Hufflepuff is because he doesn't _see_ himself as a Slytherin. He truly wants to help people, even if his ulterior motive is to become more powerful through them. But if, let's say, his hunger for power becomes stronger then his need to help people... then he would realzie that he does indeed have enough cunning to be the perfect Slytherin. And now, if you plan on brainwashing the magical population to rule over them and be worshiped, you wouldn't make it obvious by putting yourself in the one house people expect guys who want to manipulate you to go now would you?

And finally, special thanks to aliengirlguy for the brilliant comment. I promptly included it and made Snape say something similiar.

Have fun!

XxX

* * *

**1991. The human world. **

_Professor Sprout POV_

Professor Sprout decided this was the best year ever.

Her house was always the one cast aside. Her students were accused of being left-overs, losers, the ones who didn't possess any of the noble traits of the other houses. Now however the most anticipated student since that one muggleborn from the English royal family three hundred years ago had been sorted into _her _house.

Harry Potter was a genius. Maybe a little eccentric (okay, who was she kidding, he was very much eccentric) but he had enough talent to get three classes through the NEWT's. The other professors reported that he never needed more then five tries to get a spell right. His essays were average but he seemed to have a fundamental understanding of magic itself. Sometimes Professor Sprout thought that maybe her precious plants sensed that because they never ill-behaved around him. His knowledge was not as great as that of Miss Granger, a gifted student from Gryffindor house, but in terms of practical work he beat everyone. Instead of being bored at class or playing pranks or even reading ahead when he was finished with his work the boy tried to help the other students.

However, Harry Potter had a very peculiar way of doing so. He never just outright offered his help. At least not for free. At first the students had been miffed at him for asking for something in return for something as simple as showing them a spell or asking a question. But some of them were desperate enough to give him _something. _Soon the Hufflepuffs realized that Potter wasn't asking for things for his own gain. For him it seemed to be more of a symbolic gesture. He once agreed to help Ernie McMillian to get better at transfiguration for a pack of Bertie Botts Beans. From that day onwards he always gave him advice in class, made his homework together with him and gave a general tutorial. Another time Susan Bones had messed up her potion in class. According to Professor Snape it had been beyond hope. But she promised Potter to give him some of her color-changing ink if he helped her. The boy then threw half a dozen seemingly random ingredients into her cauldron, creating a whole new recipe and her potion turned out to not only have the desired effect but to be an even _improved _version of the forgetfulness potion she had been trying to make.

As soon as his housemates got the grip of his little system they all came to him for help. Professor Sprout had been afraid that maybe they were bothering the poor boy too much but her worry was unfounded. Last Thursday Justin F.F asked for directions to their charms classroom in exchange for showing him how to fold a paper plane. Harry instead offered to make him a map of Hogwarts with all the important classrooms on it if he in turn helped Hannah Abbot with her Astronomy class. Of course after that everyone wanted to have such a map and by the end of the first month every Hufflepuff was partnered with someone better in their worst subject.

The most astonishing thing however was when students from other houses started noticing. Granger got to borrow a few rare books from various Hufflepuffs in exchange for partnering with Neville Longbottom in potions. Tracey Davis from Slytherin got Potter to do an interview about the latest fashion trends for Witch Weekly (apparently her father worked as an editor there) and in exchange helped him to play matchmaker for Megan Jones' (Hufflepuff first year) older brother from sixth year Gryffindor with Davis' Cousin from Slytherin seventh year.

Of course not everyone was as excited about Potter. During the first week random people made snark comments about him for being a Hufflepuff. After a few days nobody did anymore. Professor Sprout researched that and found that people where simply unable to insult Harry Potter around him. It was as if they were all simultaneously hit with a silencing spell, just that nobody used a wand. The effect would wear off as soon as Potter was out of earshot. Noticing this the Weasley twins tried to prank him just to see what happened. Miraculously all their pranks seemed to backfire on themselves, sometimes seemingly without Potter noticing anything.

Harry Potter was a constant subject of whisper even amongst teachers. Dumbledore himself seemed to take a high interest in the boy. That's why it came without a surprise when one day he took Professor Sprout aside and asked her to subtly inquire where the boy had stayed the last decade.

"But Albus", she had exclaimed in mild shock, "are you saying you don't know that for yourself?"

"I'm afraid not", he admitted. "When he showed up in Diagon Alley one day was the first time anyone, including me, heard something from him."

"But why didn't you ask sooner?"  
"I was worried that maybe the wrong kind of people got a hold of him", he explained. "He would've never told me the truth anyway if that was the case. I was relieved to see him sorted into Hufflepuff and decided to watch him for a while first. But I won't be able to hold back all those reporters and ministry officials demanding an explanation for much longer."

So Professor Sprout had asked her favorite student to stay behind after class. However she was not much for subtlety. The boy seemed to recognize every lie someone told him anyway. That's why she just repeated the headmaster's request.

"You want me to tell where I stayed after my parents died?", he asked her.

"It would be a great relief for me to know", she confirmed, smiling. "A lot of people thought you dead. Some still doubt you're really Harry Potter."

"If I tell you", he murmured, "what do I get in return?"

Used to this strange behavior she replied: "Well, how about you don't have to do this weeks essay on dimwinkles?"

Harry thought for a moment – and then he shook his head. "No, thank you, Professor."

Professor Sprout blinked. As far as she knew, Harry Potter had _never _denied his help or an answer, even if he only got something small in return.

"Well... Then what would you like instead?", she wanted to know.

"Actually I don't think there's anything you could give me. The one thing I might want you aren't ready to give away." He closed his bag and stood. "Is that all, Professor?"

Professor Sprout had a hard time not to gape. "I – Harry, dear, I don't think you understand. People are worried about you. They don't know where you live, who you live with... What if your current guardians aren't fit to take care of you? We don't even know if they're magical or not."

"My guardians are perfectly capable of taking care of me", he answered. "I love them very much and they taught me so many things. There really isn't anything to worry about."

"Dear, I believe you – I really do – but there are people who won't take the word of an eleven year old for full. It would be far easier to just tell us who you live with."

Harry Potter sighed. "I was told this might happen. Look, I really like Hogwarts. It's the place my parents went to school, the place I heard so much about. I already have a lot of humans here who like me and I don't want to start from scratch again. But I can't tell you who I live with. If you try to force me I will have to leave. I'm sure there are other magical schools and countries who would like to claim the boy-who-lived as their student."

Professor Sprout was absolutely flabbergasted. Was the boy actually _threatening _her? No – he couldn't be – could he? His entire composition and expression had changed, he became... colder. All of sudden she felt like speaking to Professor Snape. Where was her lovely model student? Where was her nice, helpful Hufflepuff? In front of her stood a determined spirit who would sooner start a war then give away his secrets.

"I understand", she said finally, although sad, and dropped her gaze. "I will relay your message."

"Thank you, Professor." Suddenly he was back to cheerful again.

Professor Sprout watched her star pupil leave her classroom. She had the feeling Dumbledore would soon call him to his office himself. She also had the feeling he was in for a nasty surprise. After all, Hufflepuffs were famous for their undying loyalty.

* * *

XxX

_Harrys POV_

Harry decided that he very much liked Hogwarts. None of these humans actually knew him and still they already had a high opinion on him. It made his job so much easier. However there were also humans who seemed to dislike him from the very start. His potions professor was one of them.

Harry was glad he had listened to his instincts and read ahead of class. Otherwise he would've been utterly humiliated in his first period.

Then there was Malfoy, who seemed to have chosen him as eternal rival. That was actually a nice change. The only thing he had ever had that remotely resembled a rival was Suffering and he just couldn't hold a candle to her. Yet. Harry enjoyed teasing Malfoy, mostly because he was insulting things that meant absolutely nothing to him. The one time he dared to insult his parents the blonde had found himself hanging from a huge candelabra in his underpants the next morning at breakfast. He never dared to mention them again.

Luckily Harry had been able to make it up to the Granger-muggleborn – she was just so keen on finding out about his secrets that she swallowed her pride after the first week and apologized to him. Of course he still didn't tell her much but he explained to her the limitations of his 'finding stuff ability' in exchange for her helping him developing a glamour that covered the yellow gaze of his eyes that could be seen whenever he called Grim.

Another increasingly annoying student was Ron Weasley. He seemed to be torn in his opinion about Harry. One moment he was a weakling for being in Hufflepuff and relying on the help of his housemates and in the next he was convinced he really should have been in Gryffindor what with his magical ability and all that. Harry didn't see how his magical ability had anything to do with bravery.

But even if most of the teachers and students liked him very much he still hadn't managed to make any progress with his religion. That changed on his tenth deathday. On Halloween he gained his first devotee.

Harry was just returning from his last class and headed for the feast when he overheard a couple of Gryffindor girls whispering. According to them Hermione Granger had been badly insulted by Weasley during charms and was now crying in the bathroom.

Harry couldn't say he really _liked _Hermione. He had spoken to her far more then to any other non-Hufflepuff but that was mostly during to her constant nagging. She had offered to help his 'friends' with their schoolwork when she noticed he always searched for students willing to teach those who weren't as good as them. By doing so she had been the first human who had offered to do something for him without wanting anything in return. Since it wasn't supposed to be that way Harry had begun to watch her more closely. Eventually he realized that Hermione was just incredibly lonely. She would do everything for someone who would say an occasional nice word to her. That made her perfect devotee material.

That was why he went to search for her. Or more likely, he asked Grim where she was and then headed to the bathroom.

"Hermione?", he called into the empty room. "Are you alright?"  
"Y-Yes", a whisper could be heard from one of the cabins. "Please, I want to be alone for a moment."

But Harry came closer instead and leaned against the door. "You have helped my friends in the last weeks often with their schoolwork. I don't understand why you're upset... If you tell me I'll try to repay you."

"I – It's just – Its nothing, really. I'm fine."

"You're crying", Harry stated flatly. "And hiding in a toilet. You are _not _fine."

"And it's a girls toilet!", she huffed angrily. "You shouldn't even be here."

"I can think of a lot of places where I was but shouldn't be", he answered.

A soft noise told him that Hermione too now leaned against the door from the other side.

"It's just that I... When I came to Hogwarts I thought... I thought I would meet people who would understand me. People who were different like me. Not knowing what these strange things happening around me were, it was terrible. Nobody in my school would believe me and I had to go to a therapist and everything. I thought... thought here I would be able to get some friends. But it turned out magic doesn't have anything to do with me being alone. They're still ignoring me!"

Harry was silent for a moment and thought about her problem.

"You know", he said then, "you have so much knowledge and determination. You have a great memory too. Your greatest weakness is probably your blind trust in authority figures and your desire to show your own superiority at every opportunity even to people who you want to be friends with. What you really need is a cause. Something to direct all your energy onto. Preferably something that goes against authority. Something that will load you with work to the point you don't have time to worry about other peoples problems every day."

Hermione opened the door a bit and glanced at him with puffy red eyes.

Harry looked directly at her. "I have such a cause for you."

"W-What kind of cause? And what do you mean against authority? You're not talking about something illegal, are you?"  
"No", he replied, "I'm talking about-"  
He stopped mid-sentence. There was a prickle in his neck. Suddenly he had the urge to leave. Danger was approaching.

"Hermione, we have to go", he said, his voice tight as he reached for his wand.

"What? Why?"  
"Later! We have to leave right now!"

He pulled the girl with him but right as they reached the door a shadow fell over them. Acting on impulse Harry pulled her to the side, right in time to avoid a great wooden club that smashed through the door. Hermione shrieked as the shadow grew. In the door there stood a very ugly creature with gray skin, covered in rugs and swinging its enormous weapon.

Harry raised his wand and searched his brain for a spell but he knew nothing that would harm a troll.

"Go over there!", he called to Hermione while he himself fell to the ground just as the great club swung over his head. Hermione fled to another corner of the room.

"Hermione!"

"Are you alright, Harry?"

"Hermione, give me a letter!"

"What!?"

The troll smashed a few sinks and Harry threw a broken pipe at him to distract him from Hermione. "Give me a damn letter!"

Right in this moment one of the toilets exploded under the trolls attack and Hermione was splashed with water.

"Ewww!", she called out.

"W...W...", Harry thought furiously. A spell with w...

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He had intended to let the club float out of the trolls grip. However in his panicked state his spell was a little bit overpowered. The entire troll lifted off the floor.

Both first years watched in awe as the big troll started floating. He was looking around dumbly before he began to flair his arms. He threw away his club and destroyed two other toilets but after that he was completely helpless.

The trolls' roar followed a short, amazed silence.

"Hermione", Harry then called out. "Would you mind getting a teacher here?"

"I – but – that's a _troll! _I can't leave you alone with it."  
"It looks pretty harmless to me now."  
"Don't be silly! That thing must weigh a lot. There's no telling how long you'll be able to hold that spell!"  
"I'll manage."  
"But-"  
"The longer you stay arguing with me the closer it will be though."

"I..." Hermione scowled. Finally however she rushed to the door but didn't leave without looking back again.

"You... you saved my life today, Harry. Thank you. Just promise the moment you feel you can't hold the spell any longer you'll run and lock the door, okay? Don't try to be brave. I mean... Not any braver then you've already been."  
Harry looked at her in surprise. "Alright... I promise."

A moment later she was gone.

Harry continued to hold the troll immobile for another seven minutes. He didn't feel any drain on his magic at all, which wasn't strange with the amount of raw magic he possessed. Then the teachers finally came.

"Oh my god... Mr Potter, are you hurt?", Professor Sprout asked who came hurrying forward with McGonogall, Snape, Flitwick and Quirrel in tow.

"I'm fine", Harry reassured her. "Did Hermione find you?"  
"Yes, yes", McGonogall answered. "She told us you were trying to take on a mountain troll on your own. What have you been thinking? You could have gotten both yourself and Miss Granger killed!"  
"I'm sorry Professor", he answered politely but with a tight voice, "but how exactly was I supposed to know there would be a troll rushing in on us?"

"All the students were sent to the common rooms when it was announced there was a troll in the dungeons", Snape sneered. "You are just as arrogant as your father, playing the hero while getting yourself and others in mortal danger and then expecting to be worshiped for it!"

"Just like my father...?", Harry repeated. For a moment he was stunned. Arrogant and expecting to be worshiped? How the hell did Snape know that? He didn't look like someone who ever met Death. People who did were usually more... transparent.  
He shook his head and decided to ponder about that later. "With all due respect, Sir", Harry replied, not sounding respectful at all, "but the Hufflepuff common room _is _in the dungeons. As is the Slytherin one, if I remember correctly. Furthermore I didn't even get to visit the feast. I was searching for Hermione, we had agreed on going to the feast together."

"In this case you aren't to blame at all", Professor Sprout exclaimed in pride. "In fact, I think taking on a troll as a first year – without anyone, even the troll itself, to be harmed, warrants at least twenty points for yourself."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Nonetheless", McGonogall said, "the headmaster will want to know how the troll entered the castle. I'm sure he would like to speak with Mr Potter about it."  
"I can take him to the office", Sprout offered.  
"Very well, then we will take care of this troll."

Harry dropped the beast and it was immediately bound by the united efforts of the Professors.

Harry was just about to follow Sprout when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking closer he saw a patch of black fur vanishing behind a corner.

Harry stood frozen. "Grim?", he asked in wonder.

The professors turned to face him. "Is something the matter, Mr Potter?"

"I just..." he shook his head. "Nevermind."

Following his head of house Harry was eventually lead into the headmasters office. He took a moment to admire all the little trinkets on display, paying special attention to the beautiful phoenix. However when he made a movement as if to pet the bird it screeched at him in anger, flapped his wings and even pecked at his fingers. Harry flinched back.

Death had told him that his counterpart, Life, often took the appearance of a phoenix. Harry had never really met the deity. She lived on the other side of the ortherworld. Other then most siblings she and his Dad didn't come along very well. Death had once explained that when his henchmen were filled with his power, representing him in the human world then phoenixes did the same for Life. As such the bird might be able to sense the lingering deathness in Harrys spiritual energy, which was probably the reason for its violent reaction.

Of course Albus Dumbledore couldn't know that. The only people he had ever seen Fawkes react to in such a way were extremely dark wizards with next to nonexistent morals. As such it wasn't surprising that he was alarmed.

"Hello Harry, my boy", he greeted the child warmly nonetheless. "Please, sit down. Would you like a lemon drop?"

"Sure. There's nothing better then being high on sugar." Harry took the offered treat and sat down but positioned himself so that he could still see Fawkes.

"I apologize for Fawkes' behavior. He's normally more welcoming towards new people."  
"Well, yes, I suppose I have that effect on phoenixes...", he replied vaguely.

"I can't imagine why. You seem to be such a nice boy."  
Harry shrugged.

"I heard what you did for Miss Granger today. That was very brave of you."

"It's not bravery when you're not afraid in the first place", Harry answered. "That's what the Sorting Hat said."

"So you stood to face a mountain troll and you weren't afraid at all?"

"Well... I don't know. When you write a test and you have one minute left and you know you know the answer but just now it won't come to your mind... Are you afraid? I don't think so. Maybe you're panicked or frustrated or even angry at yourself but afraid?" He shook his head. "I had good Fortune at my side, that's why I suppose it wasn't sorely thanks to me the troll was defeated. Not this time around at least. I'm planning on becoming a lot stronger so I won't have to rely on luck next time."

"According to your marks you're well on your way to reach your goal", the old man mused. "I hope you won't have to fight a troll anytime soon again though. Is there something particular you want to have power for?"

Harry fidgeted a little. "Of course there is. I have a dream, you know?"

"Oh? And what would that dream be?"  
"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell."

"Why don't you try? I promise I won't tell a soul."

But Harry shook his head. "I don't know you well enough to tell you my dream. Except maybe..."

"Maybe?"  
"Maybe I could tell you if you tell me something in return."

Dumbledore chuckled and took another lemon drop. "Very well. What do you want to know?"

"What is _your_ dream?"  
"My dream?"  
"Yes. What is your hearts deepest wish? Your strongest desire?"

"Well, I would really like to have a new pair of socks."

Harry raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Socks?"

"Oh, yes. People always think they have to give me books for Christmas and such. But there's nothing better then a good pair of warm socks."

Harry looked at the headmaster closely and for a moment the old man thought he saw a flash of yellow in those green eyes.

"No", the boy said finally. "You do have a wish. Something you'd do everything to make it happen. Everyone can go and buy a pair of socks. But for someone like you your dream would be something... unreachable." Just like mine, he thought.

All joy vanished from Dumbledores eyes. Suddenly he looked very old.

"You are a very perceptive boy, aren't you? Maybe your heart is truly that of a Slytherin."  
"It's just a gift, Professor."  
"There is indeed something... A long, long time ago... I made a terrible mistake. I suppose you could say that my greatest desire would be to make up for that mistake. I can't undo it so instead I try to repay my dept."

Harry looked at him for a moment, then he nodded. "My dream is to follow in my fathers footsteps."

Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Yes, James Potter was a great man. You know, Professor McGonogall taught him too, I'm sure she would like to-"  
"I'm not talking about my biological father", Harry corrected him. "I'm talking about Dea... about Dad." He only caught himself at the very last second. Thank hell his fathers name sounded so much like 'Dad'. In fact he had been five already when he learned the difference between the two words, since Death answered to him regardless of how he addressed him.

Of course now the inevitable question came.

"Where would these footsteps lead you, Harry? What does your Dad do?"

Harry shook his head again. "I'm not supposed to tell."

"Well then, why do you want to be like him?"  
"I can't answer that."  
"But-"  
"No, Sir. You're not getting anything out of me. I promised Dad I won't tell anybody."  
"My boy, sometimes it might be necessary do break little rules..."  
"It's not a little rule. It's a _law._ You won't make me betray my family."

Dumbledore slumped in his seat a bit. "I see... I had hoped you could tell me more."  
"I'm just giving as much as I get. Your answer wasn't very precise either, Sir."

"If that is your last word, my boy, I'm afraid I can't protect you any longer. I will have to inform the ministry of your case."  
"Will they take me away from Hogwarts?", Harry asked calmly.

"I will do my best to prevent that. As long as you're in Hogwarts you are safe. However if they can't find your guardians you will have to live with people assigned by them."  
"That's no problem. Someone will come to take me at the beginning of the holidays."  
"The officials won't let them."

Harry chuckled and stood. "You don't know my family, Sir. I assure you, I will be fine. Is that all?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, you may go." He knew he would nothing else from the boy. Never had the thought Hufflepuff loyalty could be such a thorn in his side.


End file.
